13 December 2018 | Address of His Holiness

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE PRESENTATION OF CREDENTIAL LETTERS BY THE AMBASSADORS OF SWITZERLAND, MALTA, THE BAHAMAS, CABO VERDE, ESTONIA, ICELAND, TURKMENISTAN, GRENADA, QATAR AND THE GAMBIA ACCREDITED TO THE HOLY SEE

Clementine Hall

[…] In these times of sweeping social and political change, there can be no lessening
of the commitment to this principle on the part of governments and peoples. It is
essential that respect for human dignity and human rights inspire and direct every
effort to address the grave situations of war and armed conflict, crushing poverty,
discrimination and inequality that afflict our world, and in recent years have issued
in the present crisis of mass migration. No effective humanitarian solution to that
pressing global issue can ignore our moral responsibility, with due regard for the
common good, to welcome, protect, promote and integrate those who knock at our
doors in search of a secure future for themselves and their children (cf. Message for
the 2018 World Day of Peace, No. 4). The Church, for her part, is committed to
working with every responsible partner in a constructive dialogue aimed at proposing
concrete solutions to this and other urgent humanitarian problems, with the goal of
preserving human lives and dignity, alleviating suffering and advancing an authentic
and integral development. […]