On November 14, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, gave a speech on “Pope Francis and the Global Challenge of Migration” at Yale University’s McMillan Center for International and Area Studies.

In his remarks, Archbishop Auza considered the global challenge of migration from the perspective of Pope Francis and the Holy See. He sketched the Biblical history of migration and then looked at 2017 UN statistics on the number of migrants and refugees across the world, considering the push and pull factors that drive people to leave their homelands. He emphasized that migration is a natural and human phenomenon, spoke to the importance of the right to remain as well as the right to migrate, and how the rights of migrants must be respected regardless of their migration status. He said that because migration is a global challenge it demands a global response of shared responsibility. He finished by focusing on Pope Francis’ “four verbs” that summarize the Church’s holistic approach: to welcome, protect, promote and integrate.

His remarks can be found here.