This Sunday is observed as the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2026. Pope Leo has issued a message to mark the day and the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has published useful material including a summary of the Pope’s message. This year the Pope has focussed on the plight of displaced children whom he describes as “the most vulnerable group within the global movements of migration.” The Holy Father writes:
“… migrant children are more easily ignored, because they lack adults capable of protecting and supporting them. It is necessary, then, to intervene in their countries of origin in order to remove the causes that compel them to flee, while at the same time offering protection and welcome in the countries of transit and destination. The cry of displaced children rises to God today, just as did the cry heard in the Book of Exodus: ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them’ (Exod. 3:7–8). God hears their cry and, in order to bring about liberation, he forcefully appeals to the conscience and action of each one of us, just as he did with Moses. We cannot remain indifferent, nor can we become accustomed to such suffering.”