Francisco received Mbengue Nyimbilo Crepin, known to everyone as Pato, in a private audience. Pato is a 30-year-old Cameroonian migrant who lost his wife Matyla and 6-year-old daughter Marie at the end of July, who died of hunger, heat and thirst in the desert between Tunisia and Libya.
Alessandro Di Bussolo and Michele Raviart – Vatican City
The young man, who cried at the Pope’s words, was accompanied by Father Mattia Ferrari, chaplain of the Mediterranean Saving Humans, and Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for the Integral Development of Man.
Pato lost his wife and 6-year-old daughter in July this year, after being detained by Tunisian authorities and returning to the desert between Libya and Tunisia. In an atmosphere of emotion for his story, the Pope heard words of gratitude for the meeting and painful stories about the thousands of people who suffer trying to reach Europe. David, from South Sudan, who worked alongside prisoners in a camp in North Africa, thanked the Pope for his encouragement and for his words on behalf of migrants: “You not only give us a beacon of hope, but you also welcome us concretely.”
Duck with his wife and daughter
Francis’ prayer for migrants and those who work for them
In his greeting, Francisco thanked those present for their commitment and recalled the privilege of being born in places where one can study and work: “Privilege comes with the obligation to bring it”, he added. “What you do should not be a choice, it is a duty for all of us.” Before saying goodbye, the pope prayed for those present and asked the Lord to watch over those who “work for others”. He also included in his prayers those who were unable to attend, those in the internment camps, and “the many, many who are suffering.”
The audience at the Vatican
Father Mattia told Vatican Radio how Pato, a Catholic who now lives in a reception center in Italy, was moved to receive the blessing from Pope Francis, who placed his hand on the young widower’s head for a long time. “Pato was grateful for the closeness that the Pope always shows to migrants,” he added. He told the Pope that, in the great pain he carried, “to feel his tenderness was a gift from God.”
The 30-year-old Cameroonian, who is waiting to receive documents for his asylum application, lost his wife and daughter in the desert while trying to cross with them from Libya to Tunisia, after having tried to cross the Mediterranean four times to cross. At the end of July, in another meeting with Father Mattia Ferrari and Cameroonian migrant Bentolo, Francisco was moved by the photo of Matyla and Marie, dead in the desert between Tunisia and Libya, which was circulating on the Internet.
(Vatican news – MG)
The audience at the Vatican