Migrant deaths at sea 'shame of our society' says Pope

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 8 - The death at sea of migrants and refugees seeking safety and a better life in Europe is the "shame of our society", Pope Francis said on Saturday.
    "In these days, when we are continuing to witness the repetition of serious tragedies in the Mediterranean, we are shaken by the silent massacres before which we still remain helpless and astonished," said the pope in a letter to the Archbishop of Agrigento, Monsignor Alessandro Damiano, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his visit to Lampedusa.
    "The death of innocent people, mainly children, in search of a more peaceful existence, far from war and violence, is a painful and deafening cry that cannot leave us indifferent," he continued.
    "It is the shame of a society that no longer knows how to mourn and pity others," Francis said.
    The pope has made defending the cause of migrants and refugees a central part of his ministry and he has often spoken out about the imperative to save lives at sea.
    On July 8, 2013 he made a landmark address on Lampedusa after a migrant boat went down, drowning scores of people.
    It was his first trip outside Rome since his election earlier that year. (ANSA).