ROME (AP) 鈥 Pope Francis ate lunch with hundreds of refugees, poor and homeless people on Sunday as he called for a renewed commitment to helping society's weakest and denounced the 鈥渟irens of populism鈥 that drown out their cries for help.
Francis celebrated the Catholic Church鈥檚 World Day of the Poor by inviting an estimated 1,300 poor people into the Vatican for a special Mass and luncheon. Children threw their arms around his neck as he sat at one of dozens of tables set up in the Vatican audience hall.
During the Mass that preceded it, Francis denounced the indifference that the world shows to migrants and the poor, as well as the 鈥減rophets of doom鈥 who fuel fear and conspiracies about migrants for personal gain.
鈥淟et us not be enchanted by the sirens of populism, which exploit people鈥檚 real needs by facile and hasty solutions,鈥 Francis said.
This year鈥檚 commemoration takes place as Italy once again is at the heart of a European debate over migration, with the far-right-led government of Premier Giorgia Meloni going head-to-head with France over the fate of people rescued in the Mediterranean. until finally allowing three to disembark last week and forcing France to take in the fourth.
that resulted in France suspending its participation in a European migrant redistribution program and reinforcing its border crossings with Italy.
Francis lamented that the war in Ukraine is only adding to the plight of the poor, who are still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as from natural disasters and climate change.
鈥淭oday also, much more than in the past, many of our brothers and sisters, sorely tested and disheartened, migrate in search of hope, and many people experience insecurity due to the lack of employment or unjust and undignified working conditions,鈥 he said.
In addition to the luncheon, free medical checks that had been halted due to COVID-19 were restarted this week in St. Peter鈥檚 Square, providing checkups, vaccines, blood tests, electrocardiograms as well as tests for hepatitis C, tuberculosis and HIV. Area parishes were also distributing 5,000 boxes of food donated by a supermarket.
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