Concrete faces, unique stories

Even Just One of These Children (cf. Mt 18:10) – this is the title Pope Leo XIV chose for the 112^th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which the Church celebrates on September 27, at the end of National Migration Week. He draws our attention to the minors directly involved in migration and flight, and to the Lord’s promise that “whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” (Mk 9:37).
 
“Minors are the most vulnerable group within the global movements of migration. They are concrete faces who have unique stories and call on our conscience. Every year, millions of children and adolescents are forced to leave their homeland because of war, poverty, violence, environmental disasters, and other tragedies,” writes the pope, emphasizing that, sadly, their number continues to grow. Often, they are very young children who have lost parents, brothers, sisters, and friends, and who have witnessed unspeakable acts of violence. Others may be separated from their families for long periods. Finally, Pope Leo says, “We cannot forget the tragic situation of those separated from their parents because of repatriation.”
 
Minors are exposed to other tragedies as well: deaths along migration routes, trafficking and exploitation, recruitment of minors for use in armed conflicts, sexual violence, forced marriages, and the atrocities they have suffered or witnessed during their travels. “Their dignity is trampled upon in countless ways.”
 
In 2017, Pope Francis wrote that migrant children “in a threefold way are defenseless: they are children, they are foreigners, and they have no means to protect themselves.” Pope Leo continues, “Yet, amid so much darkness, the light of solidarity is not lacking. Individuals, families, civil institutions and ecclesial communities choose not to pass by on the other side (cf. Lk 10:29-37). We think of the families who open the doors of their homes in order to restore to these children the warmth of a family hearth; the educators who serve in reception centers; the volunteers and aid workers who each day devote themselves to healing the invisible wounds of these little ones along migration routes and in our cities. They bear witness through their commitment that love can overcome indifference.”
 
Quoting the Gospel phrase, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” (Mt 18:5), he urges the faithful not to focus on numbers or statistics: “Every child, every human being, possesses infinite dignity. Each is created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26); each is a presence of the Lord. Before every migrant child, we are called to make an act of humanity and faith, for we are able to welcome and encounter the Lord. This call becomes even more pressing in light of another of the Lord’s affirmations in the Gospel of Matthew: ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me’ (Mt 25:35).”
 
The Holy Father emphasizes that we need to see “even just one of these children,” listen to his or her story, fears, and dreams, and overcome the detachment that reduces the human person to a statistic that does not directly concern us or that labels him or her a “migrant.” He encourages welcoming as a “stable pastoral practice.” Christian communities should be encouraged to promote the integration of refugees and migrants and to value them as full members of the ecclesial family.
 
However, this practice does not change even if the children belong to another religion: “Even just one of these children, within the horizon of different religions, reminds us that the vulnerability of the young knows no religious boundaries and unites us in a shared humanitarian and spiritual responsibility,” writes Pope Leo.
 
He ends his message by calling for entrusting migrant and refugee children to the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, together with Saint Joseph and the child Jesus, experienced the cruelty of Herod’s violence and the tragedy of exile in Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-15). He also proposes a prayer for refugee children: