This afternoon, at Santa Marta, Pope Francis met with Mbengue Nyimbilo Crepin, known to everyone as Pato, of Cameroon, accompanied by Don Mattia Ferrari, who as chaplain has participated in many Mediterranea Saving Humans rescue missions. With them were some migrants and collaborators from associations and bodies engaged in the reception and integration of refugees, who have contributed in various ways to facilitating Pato’s arrival in Italy, and Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Pato lost his wife and six-year-old daughter in July this year, after being stopped and taken back to the desert between Libya and Tunisia by the Tunisian authorities.

In an emotional atmosphere at hearing his story, Pope Francis listened to the words of gratitude for the encounter, and the painful accounts of thousands of people who suffer in their attempt to reach Europe.

David, from South Sudan, who works alongside prisoners in detention camps in North Africa, thanked the Pope for his encouragement and his interventions in support of migrants: “You do not only give us a dream, you welcome us”.

In greeting them, after listening to their words, Pope Francis addressed Pato with a thought for his wife and daughter: “I have prayed a lot for them”, thanked those present for their commitment, and recalled the privilege of being born in a place where it is possible to study and to work. “Privilege is a debt”, he remarked. “What you do is not a bonus, it is a duty”.

Finally, before greeting them, Pope Francis prayed for those present, asking the Lord to watch over those who “work for others”, the people who were not able to come, those in detention camps, and the “many, many who are suffering”.