Pope Francis on Sunday January 23 expressed pain at the deaths of migrants at sea because they are not allowed to land, he said.
Pope Francis on January 23 expressed sorrow over the deaths of migrants at sea who are not allowed to land -- an action justified by some in the name of God, he said. "How much pain we feel in seeing our brothers and sisters die at sea because they don't let them land! And this is done by some in the name of God", the pontiff noted, expressing sorrow and bewilderment during mass in St Peter's on Sunday of the Word of God.
The Word of God, Pope Francis said during his sermon, "puts us in crisis. It doesn't leave us in peace, if a world torn by injustice and hunger is the price to pay for this serenity, and the most marginalized are those who pay the price. The weakest are always the ones who pay the price," he said.
New arrivals reported in Sicily
The pontiff spoke about shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea as migrants continued to arrive in Sicily. A reported 58 migrants rescued by NGO-run vessel Louise Michel disembarked in the harbor of Lampedusa in the night between Saturday and Sunday, January 23.
The Mare Jonio ship run by the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans that rescued 214 people last week docked in Pozzallo with 70 migrants on board after disembarking the most vulnerable on the island of Lampedusa on Sunday.
In addition, the Geo Barents ship managed by Doctors Without Borders requested a port of safety in Italy after rescuing 439 migrants during six separate operations carried out since January 19 off the coast of Libya.
400 transferred to quarantine ship
Meanwhile, 400 migrants were transferred from the hotspot in Lampedusa's Imbriacola district to the quarantine ship Azzurra docked in the Pisana bay. Some 300 guests will remain in the island's hosting facility.
During mass in St Peter's, the pontiff asked to put once again "the Word of God at the center of the Church's pastoral care and life. Let's listen to it, pray it, put it in practice", he said, warning that it "doesn't abstract us from life, but immerses us in life, in everyday situations", helping us listen "to the suffering of brothers, the cry of the poor, to violence and injustice that wound society and the planet, so we are not indifferent Christians, but rather active, creative and prophetic ones."
He then launched a "heartfelt appeal to all people of goodwill, so they raise prayers to the almighty God, so each action and political initiative is at the service of human brotherhood more than in partisan interests."
"For this and with concern -- announced the pope -- given current tensions, I propose Wednesday, January 26 to be a day of prayer for peace.!