ROME – Pope Francis had lunch with hundreds of refugees, the poor and the homeless on Sunday as he called for a renewed commitment to helping society’s most vulnerable and denounced the “sirens of populism” that drown out their cries for help.
Francis celebrated the Catholic Church’s World Day of the Poor by inviting an estimated 1,300 poor people to a special Mass and lunch at the Vatican. Children threw their arms around his neck as he sat at one of dozens of tables set out in the Vatican’s audience hall.
During the preceding Mass, Francis denounced the indifference the world shows towards migrants and the poor, as well as the “prophets of doom” who stir up fear and conspiracies over migrants for personal gain.
“Let’s not be lured by the sirens of populism that prey on people’s real needs through simple and hasty solutions,” Francis said.
This year’s commemoration comes as Italy is once again at the center of a European migration debate and the far-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni takes on France over the fate of people rescued in the Mediterranean. Italy kept four lifeboats at sea for days, until last week it finally allowed three to disembark and forced France to take on the fourth.
The standoff sparked a diplomatic row that saw France suspend its participation in a European migrant relocation program and strengthen its border crossings with Italy.
Francis lamented that the war in Ukraine is only exacerbating the plight of the poor who are still suffering from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as natural disasters and climate change.
“Today, much more than in the past, many of our brothers and sisters are also migrating in search of hope, and many of our brothers and sisters are severely tested and discouraged, and many people experience insecurity due to lack of employment or unjust and degrading working conditions,” he said .
In addition to lunch, free medical check-ups, which had been suspended due to COVID-19 and which included screening, vaccines, blood tests, electrocardiograms and tests for hepatitis C, tuberculosis and HIV, were again held in St. Peter’s Square this week. Local communities also distributed 5,000 boxes of groceries donated by a supermarket.
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