Pope Francis sent an emotional message this Thursday to migrants crossing the inhospitable Darién jungle in Panama on their way to the United States, urging them never to forget “their human dignity”. The pontiff’s message was read during a religious event held at the migrant shelter in Lajas Blancas, in the jungle province of Darién, bordering Colombia.
“Migrant brothers and sisters, never forget your human dignity,” Francisco stated in his letter, read by the apostolic nuncio Dagoberto Campos Salas in front of dozens of migrants.
“I too am a son of migrants who left in search of a better future,” said the Argentine pope with Italian ancestors, whose message was delivered to the shelter by the nuncio and bishops from Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama.
“Do not be afraid to look others in the eyes because you are not discarded, but you are also part of the human family and the family of the children of God,” the pope added.
In Lajas Blancas, about 250 km by road east of the Panamanian capital, one of the shelters installed by the Panamanian government, along with international organizations, operates to assist migrants crossing the inhospitable jungle.
This jungle, 266 km in length and 575,000 hectares in area, has become a corridor for thousands of migrants who, from South America, try to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
In 2023, a record number of 520,000 travelers crossed it, facing risks from wild animals, such as venomous snakes, swift rivers, and criminal gangs.
The NGO Doctors Without Borders recently denounced that these criminal groups raped an average of 16 migrant women per day in February, while the previous month there were three cases per day.
So far this year, nearly 100,000 migrants have crossed the jungle, according to official Panamanian figures. Almost two-thirds are Venezuelans, followed by Ecuadorians, Haitians, Colombians, and Chinese.
The son of a railway worker of Piedmontese origin and a housewife, Francisco recalled that his parents faced “times when they were left with nothing, even going hungry; with empty hands, but a heart full of hope”.
In the letter, which concludes with his usual message “pray for me”, he also assures that migrants are “the face of a mother Church that walks with its sons and daughters, in whom she discovers the face of Christ”.
