How Pope Francis touched a migrant’s heart, saying ‘we’re all the same people’

How Pope Francis touched a migrant’s heart, saying ‘we’re all the same people’
Francezka Abano, 9, holds a picture of her and Pope Francis from 2018, as she poses for a picture with her mother Diane Karla Abano, her sister Sophia, 9, and her brother John Florence, 2, in Rome, Apr. 24, 2025. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 25 April 2025
Follow

How Pope Francis touched a migrant’s heart, saying ‘we’re all the same people’

How Pope Francis touched a migrant’s heart, saying ‘we’re all the same people’
  • “In the eyes of Pope Francis, we are not migrants, we’re all the same people,” not Filipino or Indian or Asian, said Abano
  • Francis, himself the son of Italian immigrants in Argentina, placed the plight of migrants and refugees at the heart of his moral agenda

VATICAN CITY: Diane Karla Abano, a Filipino migrant living in Rome, has vivid memories of the day that Pope Francis touched her heart and made her feel at home, kissing her two young daughters during an audience in St. Peter’s Square in May, 2018.
“The moment that I reached out to the pope and saw his smile, I don’t know, all the hurt, all the pain that I felt, it changed into happiness and hope,” Abano said, her voice breaking and tears welling in her eyes as she showed photos of the event.
“In the eyes of Pope Francis, we are not migrants, we’re all the same people,” not Filipino or Indian or Asian, said Abano.
She was back in St. Peter’s Square this week, queuing up with tens of thousands of other mourners to pay her last respects to a man whose brief blessing proved transformative.
Francis, himself the son of Italian immigrants in Argentina, placed the plight of migrants and refugees at the heart of his moral agenda during his 12-year papacy, personally intervening to assist asylum seekers and pushing governments to do much more to help.
He repeatedly spoke out for the poor and marginalized, and criticized countries that shunned migrants.
His first trip outside Rome after he was elected pope in 2013 was to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa to pay tribute to the thousands of people who had drowned in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe and a better life.
In 2016 he visited the Greek island of Lesbos and brought a dozen Syrian refugees back to Italy with him on his plane. In 2021, he flew to Cyprus and again ensured safe passage for a group of 50 asylum seekers.
Among them was Grace Enjei, who had escaped fighting in her native Cameroon in 2020 and had ended up stranded in the so-called “buffer zone” that divides the island as she sought to reach territory that falls within the European Union.
Just before the trip, Vatican officials told her that the pope had learnt of the plight of those caught in a legal limbo, and had arranged for them to be relocated to Italy.
“We were so happy, like, we were singing the whole night, we were dancing, we were celebrating actually. Something so, so, so good, like it was real good, we were so happy,” said Enjei.
Days after she arrived in Italy, Enjei was unexpectedly invited to celebrate Pope Francis’ birthday.
“He was like ‘these are the people from the buffer zone?’ and we were like, ‘Yes, yes, yes’. He said, ‘Oh, you guys are welcome, I heard about your story, and I was so touched, so I needed to do something’,” Enjei said.

BRIDGES NOT WALLS
The late pope repeatedly urged political leaders to defend migrants, saying their safety should take precedence over national security concerns.
In 2015 he became the first pope to address the US Congress, where he recalled his own migrant background and said it was natural for people to cross borders in search of better opportunities for them and their families.
“Is this not what we want for our own children?” he said. “I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants.”
In 2016 he publicly clashed with Donald Trump — who was then campaigning for his first term in the White House — over his plans to build a wall between the United States and Mexico to keep out migrants.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis told reporters. Trump, who will attend the pope’s funeral on Saturday, said at the time that it was “disgraceful” for a religious leader to question a person’s faith.
Francis was critical again as the US president began his second term, telling American bishops in a letter in February that he disagreed with migrant deportations.
The pope faced resistance not just from politicians, but also sometimes from within his own Church with a number of parishes, especially in Eastern Europe, unhappy over his call for religious communities to take in refugees.
But speaking from her new home in Rome, Enjei stressed the positive impact that Francis had on so many people, not just herself.
“It’s not only about me. He has helped so many people, and we thank him for the fight he’s fighting for the migrants. We really appreciate and thank him so much,” she said.


Harvard sues Trump over block on foreign students

Updated 25 sec ago
Follow

Harvard sues Trump over block on foreign students

Harvard sues Trump over block on foreign students
“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights,” said the lawsuit

NEW YORK: Harvard sued the Trump administration on Friday over its move to block the prestigious university from enrolling and hosting foreign students in a broadening dispute, a court filing showed.

“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” said the lawsuit filed in Massachusetts federal court.

Greek court charges 17 coast guard officers over 2023 migrant shipwreck, say sources

Greek court charges 17 coast guard officers over 2023 migrant shipwreck, say sources
Updated 40 min 10 sec ago
Follow

Greek court charges 17 coast guard officers over 2023 migrant shipwreck, say sources

Greek court charges 17 coast guard officers over 2023 migrant shipwreck, say sources
  • The 17 coast guard officers would be summoned by a judge to respond to accusations
  • A Greek coast guard official said the service had not been officially informed about the charges

ATHENS: A Greek naval court has charged 17 coast guard officers over one of the Mediterranean’s worst shipwrecks two years ago, in which hundreds of people are believed to have drowned, three sources said on Friday.

The shipwreck of an overloaded migrant boat in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos on June 14, 2023, sent shockwaves across Europe and beyond. The naval court is still investigating the circumstances around the incident.

A coast guard vessel had been monitoring the boat, named Adriana, for 15 hours before it capsized and sank. It had left Libya for Italy with about 750 people on board. Only 104 of them are known to have survived.

Greek coast guard authorities have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing over the handling of the case.

Three legal sources said the 17 coast guard officers would be summoned by a judge to respond to accusations ranging from obstructing transport to causing or helping cause a shipwreck.

Contacted by Reuters, a Greek coast guard official said the service had not been officially informed about the charges and had asked to be briefed by the naval court.

Greece’s judicial system has several preparatory stages and the compilation of charges does not necessarily mean that an individual will face trial.

Human rights activists and other protesters plan rallies across Greece on June 21 to mark the second anniversary of the Pylos shipwreck.

In February, the Greek Ombudsman recommended disciplinary action against eight coast guard officers, the first national probe into the incident to conclude.

Greece says that the coast guard operates with respect to human rights and that it has rescued more than 250,000 people since 2015, when the country was at the frontline of Europe’s migration crisis.


Trump announces Kyiv-Moscow mass prisoner swap

Trump announces Kyiv-Moscow mass prisoner swap
Updated 56 min 18 sec ago
Follow

Trump announces Kyiv-Moscow mass prisoner swap

Trump announces Kyiv-Moscow mass prisoner swap
  • Kyiv and Moscow are due to swap 1,000 people each in a deal agreed at talks in Istanbul
  • Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the swap had been “completed,” but an official said the exchange was ongoing

KYIV: US President Donald Trump announced on Friday a “major” prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine, which would be the largest in three years of war.

Kyiv and Moscow are due to swap 1,000 people each in a deal agreed at talks in Istanbul last week, but a senior official with knowledge of the matter said the exchange had not yet happened.

Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have thus far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.

The warring countries have held regular exchanges since Russia launched its 2022 invasion — but none have been of this scale.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the swap had been “completed,” but an official said the exchange — usually kept secret until it is finished and taking several hours — was ongoing.

“The process is ongoing and the exchange itself has not yet taken place,” the senior official with knowledge of the matter told AFP.

Trump also said: “This could lead to something big???“

After 39 months of fighting, thousands of POWs are held in both countries.

Russia is believed to have the larger share, with the number of Ukrainian captives held by Moscow estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000.

Kyiv and Moscow have both accused each other of violating the Geneva Convention on the treatment of POWs, with the UN saying prisoners on both sides have been “subjected to torture and ill-treatment.”

Russia regularly violates international norms by putting POWs on trial — with allegations of torture widespread and several Ukrainian captives confirmed to have died in custody.

Moscow’s forces are also believed to have taken an unknown number of Ukrainian civilians into Russia in three years of seizing Ukrainian towns and cities.

There have been several high-profile cases of Ukrainian civilian captives.

Moscow this year returned the body of journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in captivity.

Ukrainians put on trial have told Russian courts they experienced and witnessed torture in Russia’s notorious prison system.

Kyiv’s Commissioner for Missing Persons, Artur Dobroserdov, told Ukrainian media last month:
“There are more than 60,000 people missing. Around 10,000 are confirmed to be in captivity.”

With Kyiv not knowing the fate of thousands, each exchange bring surprises, a senior official told AFP.

“Almost every exchange includes people no one had knowledge about,” he said.

“Sometimes they return people who were on the lists of missing persons or were considered dead.”

A sizeable part of Ukrainian troops held in Russia were taken captive during the 2022 siege of Mariupol.

Aside from the thousands held since Moscow’s 2022 invasion, Russia also has held some Ukrainians since its 2014 Crimea annexation.

The number of Russian POWs in Ukraine is believed to be considerably smaller.

Zelensky has throughout the war encouraged the taking of Russian troops as prisoners to fill up what he calls Kyiv’s “exchange fund” for future swaps.

Ukraine took hundreds of Russian troops captive during Kyiv’s incursion into the Kursk region in 2024.

It has since also said it took some North Korean soldiers captive who fought for Russia in Kursk.

Kyiv has also jailed a growing number of people for allegedly collaborating with Russian forces and there is speculation that some of these could be included in future swaps.

Last year, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest jailed for justifying Russia’s aggression was included in a prisoner swap with Russia.

Russia said in early May that a group of its civilians from the Kursk region that were taken to Ukraine’s Sumy were still there.

Until the Turkiye talks, the only communication channels open between the warring neighbors in three years were on exchanges of prisoners and soldiers’ bodies as well as on the return of children taken into Russia during Moscow’s invasion.


Indonesian pilgrims embark on Hajj journey under Makkah Route expansion

Indonesian pilgrims embark on Hajj journey under Makkah Route expansion
Updated 23 May 2025
Follow

Indonesian pilgrims embark on Hajj journey under Makkah Route expansion

Indonesian pilgrims embark on Hajj journey under Makkah Route expansion
  • Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route initiative is facilitating travel for pilgrims in Jakarta, Surabaya and Solo
  • Over 125,000 Indonesian Hajj pilgrims have already arrived in the Kingdom as of Tuesday

JAKARTA: More than 120,000 Indonesian pilgrims are benefiting from the Makkah Route initiative this year, as they embark on Hajj after the flagship Saudi program was expanded to three cities across the country.

Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, sends the largest Hajj contingent of pilgrims every year to perform the spiritual journey that is one of the five pillars of Islam.

In 2025, Saudi Arabia granted Indonesia a quota of 221,000 pilgrims. With the Hajj expected to take place on June 4 and end on June 9, special pilgrimage flights from Indonesia started on May 2.

Over half of the pilgrims are departing under the pre-travel program, which was launched by the Kingdom in 2019 to help pilgrims meet all the visa, customs and health requirements at their airport of origin and save them long hours of waiting before and upon arrival in the Kingdom.

“In Indonesia, Makkah Route is implemented in three airports, Soekarno-Hatta in Jakarta, and then in the cities of Solo and Surabaya,” Mohammed Zain, director of domestic Hajj services at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Arab News.

The initiative was only expanded in 2024 to reach more Indonesian pilgrims in different parts of the country.

This year, a total of 122,156 Indonesian pilgrims, who are departing from the three selected cities, are benefiting from the program.

“This is very helpful in sorting all of the pilgrims’ document requirements, like visa and passport, so that when the pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia, they simply head to their buses and go on their spiritual journey safely and comfortably,” Zain said.

“We hope that for Hajj next year, the Makkah Route initiative will be further expanded in Indonesia, so that we can offer more high-quality Hajj service.”

In Jakarta, the program is implemented at the new Hajj and Umrah terminal in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which was inaugurated by President Prabowo Subianto earlier this month.

Over 125,000 pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom as of Tuesday.

Indonesia is among seven Muslim-majority countries — including Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Morocco, Turkiye and Cote d’Ivoire — where Saudi Arabia is operating its Makkah Route initiative.


Rescue efforts underway for 260 workers trapped in a South African gold mine

Rescue efforts underway for 260 workers trapped in a South African gold mine
Updated 23 May 2025
Follow

Rescue efforts underway for 260 workers trapped in a South African gold mine

Rescue efforts underway for 260 workers trapped in a South African gold mine

JOHANNESBURG: Rescue efforts are underway in South Africa to bring 260 workers trapped in a gold mine for a day back to the surface, the Sibanye Stillwater mining company said on Friday.
According to the company, an initial investigation showed that a sub-shaft rock winder skip door opened at the loading point and caused some damage to the mineshaft at the Kloof mine, west of Johannesburg.
“Following a detailed risk assessment, it was decided that employees should remain at the sub-shaft station until it is safe to proceed to the surface, in order to avoid walking long distances at this time,” the company said in a statement.
The National Union of Mineworkers, which represents workers at the Kloof mine, said the miners have been trapped for almost 24 hours, with the company repeatedly changing the estimated time for them to return to the surface.
“We are very concerned because the mine did not even make this incident public until we reported it to the media,” said NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu.
The company said all miners were accounted for and safe, adding that it expected to hoist them back to the surface on Friday.