ACI Prensa Staff, 20 December, 2023 / 11:50 am (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis has called for a “humanitarian response” to the tragic reality of mass migration through the Darien Gap, the jungle region between Panama and Colombia that migrants seek to cross with the ultimate goal of reaching the United States.
The pontiff expressed his concern at the end of the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 17.
“Today I want to remember the thousands of migrants who try to cross the Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama. They are often families with children who venture down dangerous paths, deceived by those who falsely promise them a short and safe route,” he said.
Pope Francis decried the fact that these migrants are “mistreated and robbed” and “not a few lose their lives in that jungle.”
“We need the joint effort of the most directly affected countries and the international community to prevent this tragic reality from passing in silence and together to provide a humanitarian response,” he stated.
