In his annual message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis compared their flight to that of Jesus Christ.
In “Like Jesus Christ, Forced to Flee: Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating internally displaced persons,” the pope called this tragedy is “one of the challenges of our contemporary world, especially because of “situations of conflict and humanitarian emergencies, aggravated by climate change.”
“I have decided to devote this Message to the drama of internally displaced persons, an often unseen tragedy that the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated,” Francis continued.
During the flight into Egypt, “the child Jesus experienced with his parents the tragic fate of the displaced and refugees,” he added. “Unfortunately, in our own times, millions of families can identify with this sad reality. 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.”