Immigration and Migration

A life-sized bronze sculpture of migrants and refugees crowded onto a boat has stood in St. Peter’s Square for more than two years, but just before Christmas a small QR code was placed on the boat’s stern to give onlookers information about the work.

Pope Francis told reporters he accepted the resignation of Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris because the archbishop’s reputation had been destroyed, making it impossible for him to continue leading the French archdiocese.

Pope Francis asked visitors in St. Peter’s Square to join him for a moment of silent prayer for migrants, especially those who recently drowned in the English Channel and in the Mediterranean and those who are freezing on the border of Belarus and Poland.