Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tegucigalpa (Agenzia Fides) – “Being a migrant is a right of people; it was even a right for Jesus himself. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were migrants in their own time, when they had to flee into Egypt. They did so for a just cause, because of an obligation, and they were not well seen or welcome," said Bishop Juan José Pineda, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, in his homily on Sunday, September 5, in the Cathedral. That same day, funerals were held in local parishes for the migrants killed in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where 72 people from Central and South America were executed (see Fides 27/08/2010, 31/08/2010 ).
The Bishop expressed his solidarity with the world of migrants, highlighting the work of the Scalabrinian Sisters in Honduras, who welcome Honduran deportees, "without expecting anything in return, they work for others, especially for migrants." "On the issue of migration - said the Auxiliary Bishop - everyone has their part to play and no one can ignore this reality, particularly in regards to the massacre of 72 people in Tamaulipas.
Bishop Pineda asked the faithful to try to live in brotherhood, "the person who lives seeing enemies everywhere, lives on the defensive, and the person who sees enemies everywhere spends his life attacking others and thus, no one can live in peace. We must build a world of peace, so we can live as brothers."
The group of migrants found dead in Tamaulipas had been kidnapped as they reached the border area. Typically, the gangs of organized crime not only steal the money that migrants bring with them to pay "the tax" to the smugglers in order to cross the border, but they also ask them to contact relatives in the U.S. to have them send more money. Until now, nothing much has been done to combat this transnational network of extortion, probably because the victims are often undocumented and therefore fall into a category of persons unlawfully deprived of the protection of the state and excluded from humanitarian concerns. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 07/09/2010)
