ROME — Pope Francis thanked the people of Poland Wednesday for their generous reception of Ukrainian refugees fleeing their war-torn country.
Referring to the upcoming feast of Divine Mercy Sunday, the pontiff declared that “Christ teaches us that man not only experiences God’s mercy but is also called to show it to his neighbor,” in his greeting to the people of Poland following his weekly general audience.
“I am particularly grateful to you for your mercy towards so many refugees from Ukraine, who have found in Poland open doors and generous hearts,” he continued. “May God reward you for your goodness.”
“Let us also pray with confidence to the Merciful Christ for the elderly, the sick and the afflicted,” he concluded. “May the Risen Christ revive in us hope and the spirit of faith.”
As of Wednesday, over 5 million Ukrainians have left their country since Russian forces invaded on February 24, with more than 7 million more displaced within Ukraine.
Of those who have left, more than half (over 2.8 million) have fled to Poland. The Polish language is similar to Ukrainian and the refugees are eligible for national ID numbers that entitle them to work there, as well as to free health care, schooling, and bonuses for families with children.
The Poles shared in Ukraine’s fate following World War II as unwilling members of the Soviet Union’s archipelago of conquered nations and bear little love for the Russian Federation or for Vladimir Putin, as well as a special sympathy for those who suffer Russian aggression.
Poland has made its fleet of MIG-29 jets available “immediately and free of charge”, despite calling the move “fake news” just two days ago. https://t.co/EplUo6Bnfq
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 8, 2022
As Sławomir Dębski, director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs, declared, in Poland, there’s an “overwhelming sense of the need to help these people.”
“I think there is a wide understanding that Ukrainians are fighting not only for themselves but for our goals. Putin’s aspirations don’t end in Ukraine,” he added. “If he succeeds in Ukraine, he will go farther.”
As the Wall Street Journal reported this week, Europe’s reception of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war has been far warmer than during the migrant crisis of 2015.
During the 2015 crisis, some worried that Muslim immigrants did not share their cultural values and wouldn’t assimilate and others feared that Islamic terrorists would take advantage of the movement of migrants to enter Europe, the Journal noted, a risk that does not exist in with Ukrainians.
Still others were concerned that many of those trying to enter Europe were not refugees at all, but economic migrants who had heard stories of free social services and employment possibilities unavailable in their homelands.
Another factor, however, is the sharp demographic contrast between the two migrant waves. While men made up some 73 percent of the asylum seekers in 2015, the Ukrainian refugees are almost all women, children, and men over 60.
“Europeans admire the Ukrainians’ fighting spirit and understand they can help by sheltering soldiers’ wives, children and elderly kin,” the Journal declared.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.