“The Italian Church is in the forefront” of assisting migrants who come to Europe. That was recalled by cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Bishops Conference, who this morning spoke at a press conference on behalf of the presidency of the Council of European Bishops Conferences, after the audience it had with Pope Francis yesterday and a number of meetings with the leaders of some Vatican ministries. At the centre of the talks is the challenge of migratory inflows from the south of the world, which is taking the European countries by storm, and the responses of some states, which have built fences and barbed wires to curb the migrants’ passing through. “Europe – said Bagnasco – does not love itself in the first place. It lacks a sense of belonging to itself, to its culture, to its tradition, to its roots, in the first place. But it should love itself more and, in loving itself more, the barbed wires will come apart too”. As to the fencing that has been built at the border with Austria along the Brenner, the cardinal said: “I think this thing will not get sclerotic at all. Maybe these are reactions that may happen on the spur of the moment, due to fear, to scares, grounded or not. Hopefully, things will eventually be solved and will be understood in the best possible way, after a first emotional reaction”. But the cardinal wanted to recall the efforts made by the Italian Church in supporting the migrants, by saying that 12 million meals were given in the kitchens run by the parishes and ecclesial agencies in 2015. The Churches in Europe too are very busy supporting migrants and helping them fit in, “trying to do all they can to translate the Gospel into practice”. After all, the phenomenon of migration is an “irreversible movement”, since “it is the south of the world that flees poverty and fear for a north in which one thinks one will find a future and some certainty”. On behalf of the European bishops, the cardinal calls the United Nations to become more aware of the problem and asks them to make a “distinction between emergency and social inclusion, as two separate stages”. “One cannot always live in the emergency, because that would be like an excess of welfarism”. Then, speaking to the press, he explained: “The mission of the Church, and therefore the mission of the pastors of the Church, is to announce Jesus Christ and educate people’s consciences, taking inspiration from Christ and the values of the Gospel. This is its job, it is certainly not to give the operational guidelines. This is not out job. Each government decides as it likes”.