“The ability to sit down and listen to others, typical of interpersonal encounters, is paradigmatic of the welcoming attitude shown by those who transcend narcissism and accept others, caring for them and welcoming them into their lives (…)”
Fratelli Tutti n. 48.
On 20 December, the United Nations commemorates the International Day of Human Solidarity, which seeks to reaffirm the commitment of nations to build a world of greater solidarity and peace, respecting diversity and promoting initiatives aimed at reducing poverty. However, how can we talk about solidarity when every day we see the success of individualism and injustice towards migrants in the media and in the homes, shelters, refuges and canteens for migrants?
In his Encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis refers to the daily forging of the values of goodness, love, justice, and solidarity as a response to the individualism we are currently experiencing. These are values that will drive us to develop the idea of sharing and build a promising future that will break the dichotomy between “us and the others”, which has resulted in the exclusion of those who are different from our social circle.
In this commitment to solidarity, the team of Hogar Franciscano and the Casa del Peregrino of the Puebla Migrant Shelter Network have benefited from the support of our sister house Quixote Center, in New York. As a result, we have been able to buy solar heaters and water filters for the use of our migrant brothers and sisters who pass through our homes. Likewise, we are grateful for the collection made by the fraternity of the Immaculate Conception Church in Durham, North Carolina, which will help us continue to repeat the actions of solidarity and love towards our migrant brothers and sisters.
This chain of actions continues to push us beyond ourselves to meet with the most fragile, those who have been forgotten and repudiated by the government and society. This is why the meeting with our confined brothers and sisters in the Xonaca Sports Centre in Puebla led us to share articles that help them make their confinement more “bearable”. We have also approached the Haitian community living in Santo Domingo, Coyoacán, to provide assistance and integrate them into the community.
The different houses of the Franciscan Network for Migrants, and its allies, try to reaffirm and place the dignity of the migrants who pass through our houses or whom we meet along the way at the centre of our help and discourse, under this value of solidarity that gives rise to fraternity and common union among us.
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Elida Beatriz Calixto Toxqui
Equipo Hogar Franciscano
RFM – Mexico Team
