The Vatican’s representative for migration and social justice on Monday urged EU citizens considering voting for far-right parties in this week’s European Parliament elections to remain compassionate towards migrants and refugees.
Far-right and conservative parties are anticipated to gain ground in the June 6-9 vote, potentially shifting EU politics towards a stricter stance on law and order and border security.
While the Vatican typically avoids taking political sides, Pope Francis, during his 11-year papacy, has consistently advocated for migrants’ rights and called for more humanitarian approaches by Western governments.
Voters should empathise with migrants, recognising that they too would seek a better life in Europe, Cardinal Michael Czerny, head of the Vatican’s human development office, told reporters.
“It is very important to understand what it means to be pressured by reality, by history, to flee… Often propaganda or ideology suggests that (migrants come) out of pleasure or a sense of adventure: this is false, false, false,” he emphasised.
Czerny was responding to a question about his concerns regarding far-right gains in the EU election during a press conference unveiling a papal message for the Catholic Church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees, set for 29th September.
The cardinal, the son of Czech immigrants to Canada who wears a cross made from the wood of a migrant boat that landed on Italy’s Lampedusa island, stressed the importance of not dehumanising migrants.
“(Let’s) recognise these people as brothers and sisters; we can repeat the words endlessly to understand their meaning… recognising them as brothers and sisters changes everything,” he said.
Czerny also highlighted that many Europeans have a family history of immigration. “It is a shame, really a shame, that after one or two generations, a family can forget its own migration roots,” he added.
(With information from Reuters)
