On June 2, a multiethnic festival, which included the participation of some 30,000 people, gathered at St. Peter's Square, Rome, for the Migrants' and Itinerants' Jubilee Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II. At the service, the Pope made it clear that one cannot be both a Catholic and a racist at the same time. He said, “Even today in the world, there are narrow-minded attitudes, including rejection, due to unfounded fears and withdrawal into self interest. But, these are discriminations that are incompatible with belonging to Christ and the Church. Furthermore, the Christian community is called to spread the yeast of fraternity and of coexistence in the world, where no one is a foreigner and no one is excluded.”
The Pope also said that modern society, “which is complex and characterized by multiple divisions, the culture of acceptance must be combined with prudent laws and norms of wide horizons” making possible the appreciation “of the positive aspects of human mobility, guarding against its possible negative manifestation.” At the end of the homily, the Pope said that the Church must work towards being more united and welcoming of all peoples.
At one point during the Mass, representatives of the more than 22 million refugees and 50 million fugitives in the world gave the Pope a “Jubilee Charter of the Rights of Refugees and Fugitives.” Among other things, the Charter calls for the right not to be expelled from a country, to be heard by a competent authority, to live with dignity, the right of poor countries to be helped by the developed, the right of families separated by emigration to be united again, the right of minors and elderly persona to social protection, the right of children and adolescents to education and medical care, the right of refugees to return to their homeland with dignity and security, and the right of all to a homeland.
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