Pope Francis denounces “slavery” and “torture” suffered by migrants

The Pope seems tired, worried, his eyes lowered during this prayer. On a trip to Cyprus, which he will leave for Greece on Saturday, François reserved his last intervention for migrants with whom he prayed in the small Catholic church in Nicosia. He listens to the startling testimonies of those who managed to reach the island of Cyprus. “I am someone hurt by hatred, once experienced hatred cannot be forgotten, says Maccolins, who came from Cameroon. She changed me. I am hurt by the lack of love which makes me feel inferior to others, unwanted, a burden. “

A psalm and the Laudate Dominum, glory to God for all peoples, accompanies prayer before the Pope takes the floor and finally improvises completely in front of this assembly of refugees. “Looking at you, he repeats several times, looking at you I think of all those who are rejected, tortured … We must open our eyes now. “

“We lament when we reread the stories of the camps of the last century, those of the Nazis, those of Stalin, and we lament by saying ‘how could this have happened?’ Brothers and sisters, this is happening today, on the coasts, near our home, of the bridges of slavery. “

For the pope, “we are witnessing universal slavery, we are watching what is happening, but the worst part is that we are getting used to it (…) Slavery and torture is the story of this developed civilization that we call the West “, said François.