Migrants’ abuse makes one cry — Pope

Visits Turin Shroud to pray before the relic some Christians believe is Jesus’ burial cloth

Pope Francis said yesterday the mistreatment of migrants escaping war and injustice “makes one cry” as he visited the northern Italian city of Turin, stopping to pray before an icon some Christians believe is Jesus’ burial cloth.

The Church has not taken an official position, saying the mysterious cloth known as the Shroud of Turin that has baffled scientists is at least a powerful reminder of Jesus’ suffering.

Francis was the latest in a string of popes to pray before the shroud, which is usually kept locked out of sight behind an altar, and is on display for only the third time in 17 years. More than a million people have seen it since the current display began in April.

Later at the end of a Mass for 60,000 people he said the Shroud should spur people to reflect not only on Jesus, but also on “the face of every suffering and unjustly persecuted person.” Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is himself of immigrant stock and on Sunday called himself “a grandson of this land.” His grandparents and father emigrated to Argentina from the area around Turin.

In a morning outdoor talk to thousands of workers and unemployed people, he defended the right to employment and urged his listeners to help the 10 per cent of the city’s population living in absolute poverty.

“Immigration increases competition, but migrants should not be blamed because they are the victims of injustice, of this throwaway economy, of wars,” he said in the manufacturing district that was an engine of Italy’s post-war industrial rise.

Departing from his prepared text, he added. “It makes one cry to see the spectacle of these days in which human beings have been treated like merchandise.” Italy’s right-wing Northern League, which has won votes from people who say migrants take resources from a long-stagnant economy, is very strong in the neighbouring Lombardy and Veneto regions.