“Don't lose your memory," the Pope replied. “You’re a nation of migrants, of Irish migrants and Italian migrants. The Irish brought you whiskey and the Italians brought you the mafia.”
In order for migrants not to be seen as “a pebble in the shoe,” the Pope called for their integration through education and insertion into the labor force. He spoke on this subject while receiving a delegation of the “Global Solidarity Fund” Catholic network on May 25, 2022, at the Vatican. “Europe needs migrants” for its development, he said during the audience.
A non-integrated migrant is half-way on along the road… and that’s dangerous.
“A non-integrated migrant is half-way on along the road… and that’s dangerous,” the pope said in an impromptu speech to religious and business leaders committed to sustainable development. “It’s dangerous for him, poor man, because he will always be a beggar. It’s also dangerous for everyone,” explained the 85-year-old pontiff, citing once again the attack in Zaventem, Belgium (2016), perpetrated by “children of migrants who are not integrated, ‘ghettoized.'”