The pope's Alma Mater, Villanova University, opened a new institute to tackle the legality and morality of immigration, which the Pope blessed in a meeting with the founders.
Named after the patron saint of immigrants, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, the Mother Cabrini Institution aims to support migrants and refugees with the same spirit of love carried out by Mother Cabrini. The founding faculty director of the Institute, Michele Pistone, explained why this response is desperately needed today.
MICHELE PISTONE
Founding Director of Mother Cabrini Institute
I think that there is a common, very common, across the board, recognition that our system is broken. And so what is the solution? Like what is the future? And that's what we're working to figure out.
Present at the institution's premier were several academic and clerical supporters, including the newly elected Prior General of the Augustinian Order, Fr. Joseph Farrell. Fr. Farrell hopes that the Augustinians can lead the conversation around immigration wherever they serve in the world.
FATHER JOSEPH FARRELL
Prior general of Augustinian order
If there's a way that Augustinians can bring to the table right that sense of value and communion, of living the Gospel message, of reaching out to those who are homeless, reaching out to those who are poor, reaching out to those who are hungry and thirsty… If we can be part of that conversation, we can move slowly, but surely in the right direction, of trying to readjust that which has become unbalanced.
Pope Leo XIV later met with the inaugural members of the institution to them give his blessing and offered them these kind words of encouragement.
POPE LEO XIV
It is also important to remember that migrants and refugees can be privileged witnesses of hope through their resilience and trust in God. As we prepare to celebrate the Jubilees of Migrants and the Missions in this Holy Jubilee Year, I encourage you to lift up such examples of hope.
The establishment of the Mother Cabrini institution comes at a time when an estimated 100 million people are affected by displacement and migration.
CRT
