As usual, some journalists took the opportunity to deliver news to Pope Francis on his flight to Luxembourg this Thursday morning. The head of the Catholic Church received a bag of letters from migrants reporting on their escape to Europe.
Salvatore Cernuccio – Papal’s travel correspondent to Luxembourg
The plane’s tight schedule doesn’t allow the Pope to make the traditional greeting circuit, when he usually shakes hands with reporters, cameramen and photographers between seats and whispers a joke or phrase into your ear. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t make this ‘trip’…,” joked Francis, referring to the plane’s long aisle as he greeted the 60 or so journalists on board and, as usual, thanked them. Their work was appreciated.
A bag full of gifts and messages from Senegal
As always, the gifts prepared by journalists for the Pope were numerous and original. Matteo Bruni, head of the Vatican press office, collected them one by one and presented them to Francis.
One gift in particular stood out because it contained a dramatic story about migration, one of the Pope’s favorite topics. Spanish journalist Eva Fernandez, a reporter for Radio File, again handed Francis a bag of Senegalese cloth. It was created by the children cared for by the “Buen Samaritano” foundation, an initiative of the parish of Santa Maria de Anaza in the Canary Islands, which has become “the “new Lampedusa”, Francis added. Once – most recently during a press conference on his return from Singapore – he soon Or wants to see later.
Odyssey at sea
The echo of this desire of the Pope reached the emigrants who settled in the Canary Islands, who wanted to send letters to the Pope through Eva Fernández, to tell him about the odyssey they were experiencing, or perhaps we should say. He struggled to reach the gates of Europe. The letters are in the Senegal bag, with a photo of the Canary Islands government and a letter from local artist and President Fernando Clavijo thanking the Pope for the situation in the archipelago.
The bag contains misbahah (Islamic prayer beads) made of colorful beads. It was the gift of an immigrant, a priest who helped him land. It is now in the Pope’s hands, as are the handwritten letters of Michael, Osinov, Bright, Osman, and Abibo. All migrants fleeing the poverty and misery of Africa. They all talk about leaving their home, family, country, but also about a new beginning and their “rebirth” in a certain way.
The stories of Michael, Osinov, Bright, Osman and Abibo
Michele’s letter from Senegal tells the story of a boy, the youngest of three brothers, who traveled for seven days without a change of clothes. The kidnappers left his backpack on the ground. He traveled in a wet T-shirt and trousers and could barely walk when he arrived in the Canary Islands. She was placed with a friend by the Good Samaritan Foundation, and she writes that she can help her family in Senegal.
Ousseynou Fall is from the same country: he is older than Michel, but during the journey he sees many people dying of thirst. In his letter, he promises that his possible visit to the Canary Islands will be a great comfort to those who are suffering on the island and dreaming of a better future. If the Pope came, Osseynou offered to accompany him personally to the port of Arguineguin, where a large number of people were arriving by ship.
Ousmane is from Senegal: he is a poet and in a few verses he reconstructs his journey using the shackles, in which the horror is described through metaphors and metaphors: “The cold twisted my fingers and hunger felt like a thread in my stomach. The moisture and salt of the sea tore my skin and my eyelids turned into salt crystals. changed.”
One of the letters is from a Nigerian bride-opener with a wife and three children. He fled political persecution in 2008 and arrived in Libya two months later. He worked for several months before scraping together the money to travel to Sicily. He stayed there for seven months and then went to Padua. He lived on the streets for three months. He managed to find his wife again on the streets of Padua. They decided to move to France to give their children a better future. However, the happy ending was long overdue. Unable to obtain documents, Bright relied on an acquaintance who promised to travel to Ireland to organize his documents. All this for 3,700 euros. This is a scam. The teenager was arrested in Tenerife, where the flight to Dublin was stopped. With the help of many people, his papers are currently being processed. Now he has resumed his studies.
The last letter of Abibo Danfa from Guinea-Bissau, one of the few Christians who arrived in the Canary Islands. In his country, Abibo studied and worked to support himself and his brothers, but lack of money prevented him from continuing. He took a ship to El Hierro, an arduous journey. He tells Pope Francis that it is impossible to live in Africa because of hunger and wars: that is why many people decide to rebuild their lives in Europe, he writes.
Many migrants have set their sights on Belgium, the heart of the old continent, where Francis arrives this evening.
(Vatican News – SST)
