A life-saving shared love for humanity

In a message sent on Saturday, 24 August, Pope Francis sent his blessings and support for the mission of the Mediterranea Saving Humans, especially to its Chaplain, Fr Mattia Ferrari. “I pray for you. Thank you so much for your witness,” wrote the Pope.

Trapani was the departure point for a search and rescue mission launched on Friday, 23 August, by Mediterranea Saving Humans, an Italian civil society platform that rescues migrants and refugees attempting the perilous sea crossing. This will be the group’s 18th such operation since it was founded in 2018, by Luca Casarini, but the first to be jointly organised with the Italian Bishops’ Migrantes foundation. Thanks to the Italian bishops’ support, the Mare Jonio — a repurposed tugboat used for Mediterranea’s search and rescue operations — will be joined by a support ship, tasked with observation and communication. It will be carrying extra volunteers, medical personnel and the directors of the Fano and Caltanissetta Diocese, as well as an intercultural mediator and a small group of journalists.

“This is one of many collaborations with the Church that has been going on for years — Ferrari explains. He uses the Greek verb splagchnizomai, from the Gospels — often translated as “to be moved with compassion,” but meaning, etymologically, something closer to “to love viscerally” — to describe the impulse that brings volunteers from these diverse backgrounds together in their quest to help imperilled migrants.

Alongside the Mare Jonio, the support ship has now left Trapani and is heading out into the Mediterranean. As it departed Italian waters, Mediterranea made two significant announcements. Firstly, it stressed that, in view of the increasing mistreatment of migrants in Tunisia, it would no longer be collaborating with the Tunisian coastguard in search and rescue operations. (This was already their position regarding Libya, where wanton violence against migrants and refugees by militias has long been an established fact). Secondly, Mediterranea — which has often been ordered by the Italian government to deliver those it rescues to distant northern ports — announced that it would not be accepting orders to disembark in any port outside of Sicily.

Although this is their first official joint venture, the collaboration between the Church and Mediterranea extends several years back. Pope Francis has often met with members of the organisation, and has publicly voiced his support. In 2019, he placed a crucifix adorned with a lifejacket, gifted to him by Mediterranea, in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. Before departure, in fact, the Bishop of Trapani, Pietro Maria Fragnelli, visited the support boat to offer his blessing and present the crew with a specially made icon.

Shortly after the support boat returned to land, Fr Alessandro Messina, director of Migrantes for the Diocese of Fano, and Donatella D’Anna, for Caltanissetta, shared their experiences and hopes for further collaboration. They said they feel changed. D’Anna left with a sense of sadness, noting that knowing about something in the abstract and experiencing it firsthand are two very different things. Fr Messina recalled seeing much suffering, but also the happiness in the migrants’ eyes as they were brought to safety on the ship as “something that you take with you.” He concluded, saying that “God created the world for everyone, He created us brothers and sisters, as Pope Francis keeps telling us. On this mission, I’ve had the privilege of sharing this love for humanity with others,” as he called for raising awareness to all communities about the “importance of welcome, of building a civilisation of love, a civilisation where there’s room for everyone.”

By Joseph Tulloch
from the rescue boat