In his weekly address to pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday, open-borders advocate Pope Francis compared today’s “refugees and migrants” to Jesus and his family, who were also “forced to flee.”
“Today the Church celebrates the World Day of Migrants and Refugees,” the pope said. “I greet the refugees and migrants present in the Square around the monument entitled ‘Angels, unawares,’ which I blessed last year.” The pontiff said this year he has dedicated his message “to the internally displaced, who are forced to flee, as also happened to Jesus and his family. ‘Like Jesus, forced to flee,’ likewise the displaced, migrants.”
Similarly, Pope Francis wrote in a 2018 tweet for International Migrants’ Day, “Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed. May our hearts not be closed as were the houses in Bethlehem.” Earlier this year, he said that “the child Jesus experienced with his parents the tragic fate of the displaced and refugees, which is marked by fear, uncertainty and unease.
“Almost every day the television and papers carry news of refugees fleeing from hunger, war and other grave dangers, in search of security and a dignified life for themselves and for their families. In each of these people, forced to flee to safety, Jesus is present as he was at the time of Herod,” he added.
At the same time, reasonable immigration laws are necessary for the security and dignified lives of citizens and their families as well.