Pope Blasts Indifference Over Migration Deaths

LAMPEDUSA, Sicily (AP) – Pope Francis has blasted what he calls the “globalization of indifference” that greets migrants who risk their lives trying to reach a better life in Europe.

Francis traveled to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa on Monday to meet with migrants who reached Italy from Africa and pray for those who died trying.

During a Mass on Lampedusa’s main sports field, Francis lamented that we all “have forgotten how to cry” for migrants lost at sea. He also denounced smugglers who take advantage of migrants’ poverty to get rich by transporting them to Italy on overcrowded boats.

Francis, whose own ancestors immigrated to Argentina from Italy, traveled to the farthest reaches of Italy to draw attention to the plight of migrants and the need to offer them a life of dignity.