“We have to continue with courage” in the reception of refugees. Pope Francis said this in a video-message marking the 35th anniversary of the Jesuit-run refugee centre “Centro Astalli”,

which has released his Annual Report 2016 at the Theatre Argentina in Rome today. The Report provides an assessment of the living conditions of refugees and asylum seekers who have turned to the Jesuit Refugee Service in Italy for help in 2015, receiving the services of the organization. “Too many times – Pope Francis said addressing the refugees – we have not welcomed you! Forgive the closure and indifference of our society”. You have been treated as a burden, “a problem, a cost, but you are a gift”, you are the testament to how “our gracious and merciful God can transform the pain and injustice that you suffer into a good for all. Indeed, each one of you can be a bridge uniting distant peoples, a bridge that makes the meeting of different cultures and religions possible, a road to rediscover our common humanity”. Having recalled the origins of the Centro Astalli, “a concrete, daily example of this welcome, born of the prophetic vision of Father Pedro Arrupe”, the Pope went on to thank all: “women and men, lay and religious, workers and volunteers, because you concretely show that if we walk together the journey is easier and we are less afraid. I encourage you to continue. Thirty-five years are just the beginning of a journey that is ever more necessary, the only way for a reconciled co-existence”. And he said as a way of encouragement: “Always be witnesses of the beauty of this encounter. Help our society to listen to the voice of refugees. Continue to walk with courage by their side, accompany them, and also be guided by them: the refugees know the roads leading to peace because they know the acrid smell of war”.