Pope Francis says refusing aid to migrants a 'grave sin'
Adds new details from paragraph 3
By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY, Aug 28 (Reuters) -Pope Francis on Wednesday strongly decried the treatment of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to enter Europe, saying it was a "grave sin" not to offer aid to migrant vessels.
"There are those who work systematically and with every means to reject migrants," the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
"And this, when done with conscience and responsibility, is a grave sin," he said.
The pope hasspoken frequently about the treatment of migrants over his 11-year papacy. But his words on Wednesday, invoking Catholic terminology for one of the worst kinds of sin, were especially strong.
Migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea in simple crafts or home-made dinghies from northern Africa and the Middle East have been the subject of intense debate across Europe over the past decade.
The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 30,000 migrants crossing the Mediterranean have gone missing since 2014.
In Italy, a rescue ship operated by the Doctors Without Borders charity was issued a 60-day detention order on Monday. Authorities said the vessel, which had conducted several rescue operations on Aug. 23, failed to properly communicate its movements.
Doctors Without Borders refuted those claims. "We have been sanctioned for simply fulfilling our legal duty to save lives," it said in a statement.
Francis on Wednesday called for expanding access routes for migrants and a "global governance of migration based on justice, brotherhood and solidarity." The pope said the issue would not be resolved through the "militarization of borders".
In recent weeks, the pope had been offering a series of reflections about Catholic spiritual matters in his weekly audiences.
At the beginning of Wednesday's remarks, the pope said he was postponing that series this week, to consider "people who are crossing seas and deserts to find a place where they can live in peace and security".
Wednesday's audience was the last before Francis, aged 87, embarks next week for an ambitious four-country visit across Southeast Asia from Sept. 2-13. It is the longest trip yet by the pontiff, who now regularly uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain.
Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Alvise Armellini and Sharon Singleton
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
