Pope Francis installs migrant crucifix in the Vatican to 'remind everyone of the absolute commitment to save every human life'
Pope Francis, on Thursday, presided over the historic installation of a migrant crucifix in the Vatican, and which had the life vest of a migrant placed on the cross instead of Jesus Christ's statue. The ceremony of the cross' installation occurred towards the end of a meeting between the pontiff and a group of 33 migrants that he had flown to the Vatican from the island of Lesbos, Greece.
The life jacket placed on the cross was reportedly recovered last July adrift in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The jacket, which was gifted to Francis, is believed to have belonged to a migrant who died at sea.
The pope, in his address to the migrants, said: "We are facing another death caused by injustice. Yes, because it is injustice that forces many migrants to leave their lands. It is injustice that forces them to cross deserts and suffer abuse and torture in detention camps. It is injustice that rejects them and makes them die at sea."
"I decided to exhibit this life jacket, ‘crucified’ on this cross, to remind us that we must keep our eyes open, keep our hearts open, to remind everyone of the absolute commitment to save every human life, a moral duty that unites believers and non-believers,” he said. The crucified life jacket “wishes to express the spiritual experience that I was able to grasp from the words of the rescuers,” the pope said. “In the Christian tradition the cross is a symbol of suffering and sacrifice and, at the same time, of redemption and salvation.”
“How can we not listen to the desperate cry of so many brothers and sisters who prefer to face a stormy sea rather than die slowly in Libyan detention camps, places of torture and despicable slavery?” Francis continued. “How can we remain indifferent to the abuses and violence of which they are innocent victims, leaving them at the mercy of unscrupulous traffickers? How can we ‘walk on by,’ like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan, making ourselves responsible for their death? Our inaction is a sin!” he exclaimed.
The Pope, last week, had also appeared to compare President Donald Trump to King Herod, who massacred innocent children in ancient Palestine while attempting to kill baby Jesus, according to a Jesuit journal. The pontiff made the statement while addressing his brother Jesuits during his recent visit to Thailand.
Francis reportedly slammed Trump and his administration in his thinly-veiled condemnation, suggesting Trump, like a modern-day Herod, was separating families at the border while allowing drugs to freely flow into the country.