ROME - The community of Sant'Egidio and Cardinal Pietro Parolin were holding a prayer vigil Tuesday evening to mark World Refugee Day on June 20, commemorating the 43,000 people who have died on the perilous journey to the shores of Europe since 1990.

  The vigil was being held at the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere with everyone invited to participate, either on person or via the live stream, in the prayer “Morire di Speranza.” 

  The event was organised by several organisations involved with the rescue and integration of migrants in Italy, including Associazione Centro Astalli, Caritas Italiana, Fondazione Migrantes, Federazione Chiese Evangeliche in Italia, Scalabrini Migration International Network, ACLI and the Associazione Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII.

  The 43,000 dead, not counting the thousands missing and unaccounted for, is a shocking number that has only got worse in the last few years - since June 2020 4,071 people have lost their life in the Mediterranean and on land attempting to flee war and poverty in North Africa and the Middle East.

  Several migrants will be present at the vigil, as well as several families of those migrants who weren't so lucky as to make it safely to Europe.

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