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Good morning.

I live in Italy at the moment and it has become commonplace now that on a Monday morning we hear of thousands more migrants who have made – or all too often not made – the crossing from northern Africa over the weekend, in search of a better life for themselves and their children.  We know that this is a complex social and political issue which divides many people and that there are no quick fixes.  But we also know that before being a social and political issue it is an issue about human beings, human beings whose plight is so desperate that they would risk everything in the search for something better.  Increasingly, unaccompanied children are arriving on our shores, put on the boats by parents who cannot afford to pay for the whole family but who put their trust in their hope that someone at the other end will rescue their child and put her or him on the path to a better life than that of their parents.  It is very difficult for us to imagine either the desperation of such parents or the callousness of those who are, to all intents and purposes, trafficking human beings and exploiting their vulnerability and making vast profits from so doing.  It is to the credit of the Italian government that it has not flinched from the cost – political, economic and social – of these mass migrations even when others were turning a blind eye.  The long-term solution to this problem is yet to be found but in the short-term the well of human compassion has proved not to be empty and that is a cause for quiet rejoicing.

God of the weak and the helpless, be with your people wherever they are struggling and in need.  Amen.