The Human Person at the Center of the Understanding of Migrant Families

In his reflections before praying the Angelus today, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about migrant families, speaking of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt to escape persecution from Herod (Matt. 2:13-15) as illustrating "the sad condition of so many migrants".  He spoke of the need for legislative and administrative assistance and the provision of needed services.

His Message for the 93rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees was previously published on the Vatican website.  In it, he speaks of the Holy Family of Nazareth as an "icon for all families."  He spoke about the difficulty of integrating migrant families into the population and the dangers of migrant camps.

An article about today's Angelus meditation is available from Asia News.  Full translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum.  Here is an excerpt from Teresa Benedetta's translation at PRF:

"In effect, even in the vast field of international migrations, the human person should always be placed at the center. Only the recognition of the human dignity of all migrants, on the one hand, and the acknowledgment by the migrants themselves of the values of the society that is host to them, on the other, will make possible the just integration of such families into the social, economic and political systems of their host countries."