ROME - On Thursday, Pope Francis spoke out against the Italian government’s decision to close Italy’s ports to migrants, appealing to the Italian people to not stand by in this violation of basic human rights.

 In his message to the participants of the meeting for the Holy See of Mexico on international migration, he said: “It’s not just numbers which are at stake, but people, their history, their culture, their feelings and their aspirations. These people, who are our brothers and sisters, need continued protection; a protection which is nothing to do with their status as “migrants”. Their basic human rights and dignity must be protected and defended… they are all hoping that we have the courage to break down the wall of comfortable and silent complicity which only worsens their state of abandonment.”

 The pontiff implored the Italian people to not have a “phobia of the poor and the unfortunate”, and to fight against the “tendency to create distance between us and them as we do not realize that in this way we become distant from the Lord Jesus Himself.”

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