Pope Urges Christians to Accept Immigrants

Pope John Paul II, in a message for next year’s observances of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, urged Christians to fight “all racism, xenophobia and exaggerated nationalism.”

“The path to true acceptance of immigrants in their cultural diversity is actually a difficult one, in some cases a real Way of the Cross,” the pontiff said. He urged Christians to use their faith to help meet “the daily challenge of turning from egoism to altruism, from fear to openness, from rejection to solidarity.”

John Paul expressed concern for undocumented migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and those displaced by violent conflicts. He called human trafficking a “terrible crime” and said ethnic cleansing grows out of “sinful intentions and actions.”