Global – The Migrants and Refugees Section and the Diocese of Rome welcomed Amal to St. Peter’s Square
Little Amal has arrived in Rome, in St. Peter's Square to be precise. But who is Amal? A 3.5 meter tall puppet depicting a young refugee girl of about 9 years old, who ideally represents all displaced children, many of them separated from their parents. Leaving Gaziantep, near the Turkish-Syrian border, she will arrive in Manchester, UK: traveling more than 8,000 km in search of her family to embody the admonition "Don't forget us," along with the traveling festival The Walk.
On Friday, September 10, at 10:30 a.m., she stopped in St. Peter's Square, near the Angels Unawares monument - the bronze sculpture by Timothy Schmalz depicting a group of migrants - inside Bernini's colonnade. Welcoming Amal were Cardinal Michael Czerny, undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, and Monsignor Benoni Ambarus, auxiliary bishop delegate for Charity, Migrants and the Pastoral Care of Roma and Sinti. The diocese of Rome, for the occasion, organized a party attended by nearly 200 children from several Roman parishes.
"In the letter to the Hebrews, we read "Do not forget hospitality; some, practicing it, welcomed angels without knowing it" (13,2). And who knows how many angels are hiding behind the faces of so many migrants and refugees, minors and young people, adults and the elderly? We have only the task of welcoming and protecting them as the first indispensable steps towards their integral human promotion, that is, a future as we all want it," said Cardinal Czerny. "Dear Amal, thank you for coming among us. You are an angel for those who meet you. We take on your story, we accompany you on your journey, and we hope that you and all of us find what we are looking for."
Read the full speech by H.E.Cardinal Michael Czerny here (ITA and ENG).
Source: Migrants and Refugee Section - Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
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