Pope call on European leaders to give migrants stuck aboard rescue ships on the Mediterranean a safe port of call

Pope Francis on Sunday called on European leaders to stop bickering over the fate of 49 migrants stuck aboard two humanitarian rescue ships on the Mediterranean and give them a safe port of call.

Pope Francis made the comments when addressing tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square at the end marking the feast of the Epiphany.

Francis jumped into a diplomatic fracas between Italy and Malta.

I make a heartfelt appeal to European leaders to show concrete solidarity for these people, Francis said.

They were “seeking a safe port where they can disembark, he said.

Thirty-two people are aboard the Sea-Watch 3, a vessel run by a German humanitarian group, which plucked them from an unsafe boat off the coast of Libya on Dec. 22. They include three small children and four teenagers. Another ship run by the German humanitarian group, Sea-Eye, carries 17 people rescued on Dec. 29 on board its ship.



Reuters