29/08/2013
The Globalisation of Indifference
A post based on Pope Francis’s homily from the mass he celebrated on the Italian island of Lampedusa on 8th July 2013.
Who will weep for them?
The UN reports that so far this year 40 people have lost
their lives off the cost of Lampedusa.
On Pope Francis’ first official visit outside Rome to the island,
reports were coming in that another 31 people have drowned in the waters of the
island in their quest for a better life.
Pope Francis described these deaths as a “thorn of suffering in his
heart”. But more than that, he spoke of
this disease, the globalization of indifference, which has hardens all our
hearts to the plight of these migrants, these our brothers and sisters.
“The migrants leave difficult situations in order to find a
little serenity and peace. They seek a
better place for themselves and for their families.”
To that end, for the chance of opportunities, which cannot
be found in their own countries, they embark upon perilous journeys, paying traffickers
vast sums of money and only counting on God to safely reach their
destination. They do not know if they
will make it. Many do not and those who
do, instead of finding the understanding, the welcome and the solidarity which
should characterise a global village in this age of globalization are instead met
with indifference. In our desire to
preserve our own well-being and our little soap bubbles, we turn our backs and
our hearts are not stirred within us as the dignity of our brothers and sisters
is trampled upon.
The globalization of indifference has taken away from us our
ability to weep even as God Himself weeps over these deaths and these migrants’
lives which are in limbo as they await a decision in the over-crowded detention
centres in Lampedusa.
In his homily, Pope Francis directed his listeners to the
two questions God asked of man after sin.
“Adam, where are you?” “Cain,
where is your brother?”
These two questions, rather than embedding us further into
our attitude of indifference, should instead provoke our consciences and cause
us to ask for forgiveness and weep: “weep over our indifference, weep over the cruelty in the world,
the cruelty in ourselves, and even in those who anonymously make socio-economic
decisions that open the way to the death of so many brothers and sisters and to
the robbing of the dignity of so many of them.”
