Pope Francis made an appeal to developed countries to reflect on their role in integrating refugees on the eve of World Refugee Day.
“We are all called to welcome, promote, accompany and integrate those who call at our doors. I pray that states will work to ensure humane conditions for refugees and facilitate integration processes.”
Minutes before the appeal, he encouraged everyone to pray using the same prayers Jesus, Mary, the Apostles and the first Christians used.
They are what Pope Francis called a “symphony of prayer” and are a great treasure for the church.
“This beautiful symphony is the psalms with which we address the Lord to praise him, to thank him, to implore him and to share our suffering with him; in a word, we pray with them, sometimes in community, sometimes in private,” he said.
“I encourage you, when a psalm or a verse of a psalm touches your heart, to hold on to it and repeat it throughout the day.”
Many Argentines were also present in St Peter’s Square and, at the beginning of the audience, the pope stopped to drink a cup of mate with them.