Migration: Indifference an alarm bell on moral decline – Auxiliary Bishop

The homily given by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Galea-Curmi on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday focused on Pope Francis’ message that “describes the inspiration that motives so many people to involve themselves in this field”.

“The Pope says that at the heart of the ‘globalisation of indifference’ that exists nowadays, ‘migrants, refugees, displaced persons and victims of trafficking have become emblems of exclusion’.”

He continued by saying that, in addition to the hardships that their condition entails, they are often looked down upon and considered the source of all society’s ills.

“This attitude is an alarm bell warning of the moral decline we will face if we continue to give ground to the throw-away culture.”

He maintained that what has happened over time has “laid bare our fears” of those whom “we do not know” and “what they could become”, insisting that the problem is not said doubts and fears but “when they condition our way of thinking and acting to the point o making us intolerant, closed and perhaps even racist”.

“Such an outlook is mirrored in our words, comments and general attitude.”

Quoting Pope Francis, the Bishop said that compassion strikes the most sensitive chords of our humanity, and “as Jesus himself teaches us, being compassionate means recognizing the suffering of the other and taking immediate action to soothe, heal and save.

“We must work together so that no one is excluded in a world that is sometimes elitist and cruel with the emarginated.

“No one should end up on the scar heap of history. Progress that creates exclusion makes the rich even richer and the poor even poorer.”

The Bishop then pointed out the “Jesus asks us to strive to overcome this indifference towards our neighbours which leads to viewing them in purely economic terms that leads to their exploitation.

“Migrants, especially those who are most vulnerable, help us to read the “signs of the times”.

“Through them, the Lord is calling us to conversion, to be set free from exclusivity, indifference and the throw-away culture. Through them, the Lord invites us to embrace fully our Christian life and to contribute, each according to his or her proper vocation, to the building up of a world that is more and more in accord with God’s plan.”