Pope Francis reiterated his call for
everything to be done to prevent migrants losing their lives
trying to cross the Mediterranean during his weekly general
audience on Wednesday.
He also addressed the issue last week during his Apostolic
Journey to Marseilles for the "Mediterranean Meetings" event on
migration.
"The dream, and the challenge, is that the Mediterranean might
recover its vocation, that of being a laboratory of civilization
and peace," Francis said.
"The Mediterranean is the cradle of civilization and a cradle is
for life.
"It is not tolerable that it has become a tomb, neither should
it be a place of conflict".
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says that
over 2,350 people have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean
this year, most on the central Mediterranean migrant route
between North Africa and Italy.
"The Mediterranean Sea is the complete opposite of the clash
between civilizations, war, human trafficking," he said.
"It is a means of communication between Africa, Asia, and
Europe, between the north and the south, the east and the west,
persons and cultures, peoples and tongues, philosophies and
religions".
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