Pope Francis: Better To Use Term 'Migrant People,’ Than 'Migrants'
The Pontiff spoke to pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for his weekly audience
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Pope Francis has declared he doesn't like using the expression “migrants” as it does not underscore their humanity; instead, he prefers to use the term “migrant people."
The Pontiff spoke to pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for his weekly audience on the issue of migrants during his trip to Morrocco.
“Some of them testified that the lives of those who emigrate changes and goes back to being human when they find a community that welcomes them as a person. This is fundamental,” he said.
“The Church in Morocco is very committed to being close to migrants,” Francis added.
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“I don’t like to say ‘migrants.’ I prefer to say ‘migrant people,’” he said.
“Do you know why? Because ‘migrant’ is an adjective, while the term ‘person’ is a noun. We have fallen into an adjective culture: we use many adjectives, and we often forget the nouns, that is, the substance.”
“An adjective must always be tied to a noun, to a person, therefore: ‘a migrant person.’ Thus there is respect and one does not fall into this culture of the adjective that is too liquid, too ‘gaseous,’” he said.
“The Church in Morocco — I was saying — is very committed to being close to migrant people, and so I wanted to thank and encourage those who generously spend themselves in their service by fulfilling the words of Christ: ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me’ (Mt 25:35),” he said.
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The Pope restated his praise for the United Nations “Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration,” which was signed in Marrakech last December.
The pact represented:
“an important step towards assuming responsibility on the part of the international community,” he said, adding that the Holy See had contributed to the process by offering four verbs, to sum up, a proper attitude toward immigration: “welcoming migrants, protecting migrants, promoting migrants and integrating migrants.”
Last week, Francis hailed Morocco as a model of religious moderation and 'migrant welcome' as he began his trip to the country on Saturday, taking a subtle jab at Donald Trump by arguing 'border walls and fear-mongering' won't stop migration.
King Mohamed VI welcomed the pontiff as he began his visit aimed at promoting Christian-Muslim ties and showing solidarity with Morocco's increasing migrant community.
