Aftereffects of 9/11 Reach Mississippi

By Wandy Felicita Ortiz

MANHATTAN — Earlier this year, when Kate Baragona was diagnosed with cancer, she was stunned. But the news was also a reminder of how far-reaching the effects of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists attacks continue to be 18 years after the fact.

As New Yorkers remembered the horrible events of 9/11 this past week, Baragona reflected on her own story of how the aftermath of the attacks has hit her personally.

Kate Baragona, 60, a mother of two adult children, now lives in Mississippi. She used to work for Citi Global Markets on Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan before and after 9/11, breathing the toxic air from the debris that remained after the attacks. She missed the attacks themselves, because at the time the two planes struck she was in her car driving to work from her home in New Jersey.

Fast forward 17 years to last October, when Baragona was making the hour-plus drive from her home in Poplarville, Miss., to New Orleans to see a doctor about what she thought would be a routine knee-replacement surgery.

“You have to have a general physical before the surgery, and I went to a doctor I had never been to before in Louisiana,” Baragona said. “We did all the tests beside a mammogram, which he made me promise that I would come back for.”

When she returned to a hospital in New Orleans post-surgery for the mammogram, the results didn’t match up to those from a mammogram she had had the previous year. She was then required to have two more mammograms and an ultrasound.

The tests revealed that Kate had a form of breast cancer that required surgery to remove. She had that surgery this past February. Afterward, a lump began to form on the same leg as where she had her knee surgery.

Tests revealed Baragona had two types of breast cancer, plus a form of cancer in her leg.

“How is it that a person gets three types of cancer in a flash?” she asked.

Baragona’s doctors in Louisiana tried to treat her cancers aggressively and contemplated amputating her leg. They didn’t know that her cancers were related to 9/11.

Meanwhile, Baragona sought referrals for treatment at leading cancer centers across the country. One of those places was Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.

“Within six hours of the referral, Memorial Sloan Kettering said that they would call me back on Monday. That was on a Friday. On Monday, they told me that I had an appointment scheduled for Thursday,” she said, meaning she would have to fly to New York on short notice.

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering are more familiar with rare cancers, and are not surprised that Baragona’s cancers were related to her time working near Ground Zero post-9/11.

According to Michael Barasch, an attorney whose firm has represented thousands of clients suffering from 9/11-related illnesses, 425,000 people have faced adverse effects of the post 9/11 pile, including 300,000 office workers. Baragona is one of them.

“Those people are what I like to call the ‘forgotten victims,’” Barasch said.

“I had no symptoms. It was confusing,” Baragona said. If it wasn’t for her knee surgery, she never would have known she had cancer caused by working near the disaster zone.

“Ten years or 18 years later, why would you ever think it was due to your exposure years earlier? You wouldn’t,” Barasch said. Baragona, who moved to Mississippi in 2014, now must go to New York for evaluations and mammograms at Memorial Sloan Kettering once every six months.

Meanwhile, she takes a daily pill that administers a low dose of chemotherapy.

Her healthcare in New York is being covered by the World Trade Center Health Program.

Since 2011, more than 21,000 survivors who lived or worked in the area of Ground Zero between Sept. 11 2001 and May 2002 have enrolled in the program.

Fewer than 100 survivors enrolled in the program are from Louisiana, where Kate received her initial medical treatment, having no idea at the time how 9/11 had affected her.

New Memorial to 9/11 First Responders a ‘Monument of Sensitivity,’ Priest Says

By Christopher White, The Tablet’s National Correspondent

NEW YORK — A new addition to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum that pays tribute to the first responders, survivors, and their families who have continued to suffer from the attacks is being praised by faith leaders as a sign of “continued hope” emerging from an event known for its devastation.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed during the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, but by 2024, it’s estimated that more individuals will have died from exposures to toxins and other hazardous materials during the resulting recovery efforts than from the attack itself.

For that reason, on May 30 of this year – the 17th anniversary of the official end of the recovery effort at the World Trade Center – the Memorial unveiled the latest installation, known as the Memorial Glade, designed to pay tribute to those who continue to suffer and to the memory of those who have died since the attacks.

Father Brian Jordan, a Franciscan friar who was present at Ground Zero on the day of the attack – called the Glade a “monument of sensitivity” and a “stroke of genius,” recalling that he’s celebrated numerous funerals for Catholics who have died from 9/11 causes in recent years.

Each year when the anniversary rolls around, the names of those that died from the attacks are read aloud and remembered in a public way. The Memorial Glade, now a permanent part of the Ground Zero site, is a way to ensure that those who have gone on to die from illnesses related to the attacks are remembered as well.

“I imagine I’ll be having more funerals in the near future,” he told The Tablet, insisting that it’s important to memorialize all of the victims who died from that day’s attack, even if they didn’t die on the day itself.

“The Memorial Glade has been an outstanding tribute and the living reminder that we cannot forget, not those who died that day, but those who have died since that time and those who are dying at this present time,” Jordan continued. “We have to remember them because they served and they’re giving the ultimate sacrifice for our country as well.”

Jordan became a regular presence at Ground Zero during the recovery efforts, leaving his midtown Manhattan parish and running directly toward the scene of the attack to bless bodies in the immediate hours after the towers fell.

He would go on to spend many weeks there and is remembered by recovery workers for the work he did to save what is now known as the Ground Zero cross – a cross-like beam that was discovered in the debris from the towers.

As many firefighters, police officers, and family members of victims were asking “where was God after 9/11,” Fr. Jordan said he pointed them to that cross. “God is in that cross. This is a sign of hope,” he told them.

The cross would go on to face legal challenges from outside groups opposing its religious symbolism, but it ultimately prevailed and is now in the 9/11 Museum in what Fr. Jordan says is a reminder to everyone of “God’s overwhelming love.”

He believes the Memorial Glade is yet another physical reminder of the importance of memorializing not only that day’s events but also the continued loss stemming from it. As a clergy member, he says he can’t help but recall the role that ministers have played along the way.

“This was very personal for us,” he said, noting that many of the victims from the day of the attacks and since then were Catholic.

“The role of faith in response to the attack on the World Trade Center is something that’s really very important and central to understanding the response,” echoed Amy Weinstein, director of collections and senior oral historian of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

“It’s not something that always rises to the surface, but there were pastors, ministers of pretty much every faith down here from the beginning and throughout the nine months of the rescue and the recovery,” she told The Tablet, noting that ministers need to be remembered as part of the first responders.

For Weinstein, the new Memorial Glade – which includes six large stones, ranging from 13 to 18 tons each – is yet another way of literally cementing the efforts of those recovery workers and giving them a permanent presence at the site.

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, who has served as a chaplain to the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) since 1999, concurred saying that nearly twenty years later, all faith traditions are still grappling with loss – but seeking new ways to find hope.

Part of that hope, he says, has been found in the solidarity of people of all faiths that were attacked that day and have faced ongoing loss.

“Even though I’m described as the Jewish chaplain of the FDNY, 9/11 transformed all of us into being chaplains for everyone because when we were there and bodies were found and body parts were found, nobody asked is this a ‘Jew’?”

“We were all there together. I stood with a reverend, with a monsignor, with an imam. All the people who participated from different faiths became one family,” he continued.

Looking ahead, he said the Memorial Glade is yet another way of remembrance, but one that isn’t simply concerned about the past alone.

“Remembrance is something that all of our faith traditions stress,” Rabbi Potasnik told The Tablet. “Remembrance is an integral part of our faith. But it’s not enough to remember.”

“The question is then what are you going to do after you remember?” he continued. “Because you remember you have a responsibility to make sure that others who may be in a similar predicament are given strength and support.”

FDNY Teaches Students Fire Safety Following Blaze in Queens Home

By Tim Harfmann

On September 10, the FDNY paid a special visit to Holy Child Jesus Catholic Academy in Richmond Hill, Queens, to teach students about fire safety.

Students walked through a mobile smokehouse and navigated through theatrical smoke to see what it would be like in a real fire.

“It was, like, pitch black and I was super scared,” said Sierra Suknannan, a student at the school.

“I think the children needed, not only to review the rules and procedures, but to feel safe themselves after what we’ve just gone through,” said Patricia Winters, principal of Holy Child Jesus Catholic Academy.

A fire ripped through a Richmond Hill home July 21, killing 51-year-old Silva Umana and two of her children: 19-year-old Gilbert Diaz and seven-year-old Guadalupe Perez.

Only Silvia’s 15-year-old son, Gabriel Diaz, survived.

Guadalupe was a student at Holy Child Jesus, preparing to enter second grade.

According to the FDNY, a damaged air conditioner cord caused the blaze. There were no working smoke detectors in the home.

On Tuesday, New York’s bravest stressed how smoke alarms are the difference between life and death.

“You might get hurt and you might not survive,” Sierra learned.

“It’s for our safety and to survive fires,” explained Aydan Padilla, another student.

According to the FDNY, 88 people died in New York City fires last year. In two out of every three fires, there were no working smoke alarms to be found.

Lieutenant Ryan Gorecki travels with the FDNY’s Fire Safety Education Unit, teaching students about the dangers of fire and smoke.

“In a real fire situation, it’s black. We can [hardly see] in front of our face,” he said. “So what we’re trying to teach them is that your hands now become your eyes,” Lt. Gorecki explained.

Just as students were able to find light at the end of a dark, smokey hallway, they’re also finding light through the dark tragedy of losing a classmate.

“They’ve been told that should they have a day where they’re feeling sad or they’re afraid, all they have to do is ask the teacher; and they can come down and we’ll get somebody to speak with them,” Winters said.

Holy Child Jesus will hold a memorial service on Friday, September 13, where they’ll plant a tree and release balloons in honor of Guadalupe and her family.

Currents News for Tuesday, September 10, 2019

On the newscast: An exclusive report on Catholic kids walking through a smoke-filled room for a lesson about the importance of smoke detectors; A well-known Catholic institution in New York is devoted to caring for abandoned babies. They’re now bigger than ever; The latest from the Bahamas as an archbishop there gives us an eyewitness account; Is a painting of the Virgin Mary weeping because a church could soon close?

Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.

On American Critics, Pope Says He Doesn’t Want a Schism But He’s Not Afraid of It

By Inés San Martín

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Crux) — In response to a question about his recent declaration that he’s honored when “Americans are attacking me,” Pope Francis said September 10 that while he prays to avoid a schism in the Catholic Church, he’s not afraid of it either, because such rifts have occurred throughout history.

The Holy Father also acknowledged that the U.S. is hardly the only place from which he occasionally draws fire, noting that he also has some critics within the Roman Curia, meaning the administrative bureaucracy of the Vatican itself.

Further, Pope Francis also said that criticism isn’t always destructive, especially when it’s delivered in the open rather than behind one’s back.

“On the question of schism … In the Church, there have been many,” the said, giving the example of ruptures that followed the First and Second Vatican Councils, including one led by the traditionalist Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the Society of St. Pius X.

“There always is the schismatic option in the Church,” Pope Francis said. “It’s a choice that the Lord leaves to human freedom. I am not afraid of schism … I pray for them not to happen, as the spiritual health of many people is at stake.”

The pontiff also said that he prays for dialogue, because the “path of schism is not Christian.”

Pope Francis then said that it’s the people of God who ultimately save the Church from schism, because all such movements have one thing in common: “They’re a split from the people, from the faith of the people, from the people of God.”

A schism, he said, is an ideology that can sometimes have a point, but which “enters into doctrine and splits it apart.”

Pope Francis’s remarks came as he answered questions from the nearly 70 journalists who traveled with him during his Sept. 4-10 visit to Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius.

The question about schism was posed by English-speaking journalists about his comments on the Sept. 4 flight to Maputo, Mozambique, when he told a French journalist that he’s “honored” by the criticism he receives from some quarters within the American Church. The journalist, Nicolas Seneze, handed the pontiff a copy of his new book “How America Wanted to Change the Pope,” which hasn’t been released in English.

The Holy Father began his response by saying that “criticism is always helpful,” and that when one receives a criticism, it’s important to ask if it’s true or not. Criticism, he said, can sometimes cause anger, but there’s always something to learn from it.

The pontiff swiftly observed that Americans aren’t his only critics.

“Criticism comes not only from the Americans, they’re coming from all over, including the Curia,” he said.

Pope Francis also praised those who criticize him to his face, “having the honesty of saying” their objections out loud. “I don’t like it when criticism is done under the table… when they smile and then stick the knife from behind. This is not loyal.”

Criticism, he insisted, can be a constructive tool. When a person issue a criticism that isn’t fair, the pontiff said, he or she should be ready for a response and to dialogue about it.

On the other hand, Pope Francis said, a critic who cloaks his or her objections behind a façade is “an arsenic pill, a bit like throwing a stone and hiding your hand. This doesn’t help, and it comes from closed [minded] people who don’t want to hear the answer.”

When it comes to criticizing the pope, he said, “saying what you don’t like, writing an article and asking for a response, this is loyal. This is loving the Church. Instead, voicing a criticism without dialogue [and] without wanting an answer, is not loving the Church … [it’s to want to] change the pope, make a schism.”

Answering the same question, Pope Francis said that those who criticize him for following the Second Vatican Council and for speaking about social issues, “saying [the same] things John Paul II said,” and who label him as “a bit communist,” are injecting ideology into doctrine, “and that’s when schism occurs.”

“Today we have pockets of rigidity, which aren’t a schism, but they’re semi-schismatic ways of life that will end badly,” Pope Francis said. He added that bishops, priests and lay people who are “rigid” lack the “health” of the Gospel.

On the Three Countries He Visited

Pope Francis said that he was particularly moved by the “joy” demonstrated by the people he encountered in the three nations, particularly in Madagascar, where close to a million people took part in the Mass he celebrated on Sunday, despite sporadic rain and also despite that, due to their poverty, most hadn’t eaten since the previous afternoon.

“I felt humbled, small, facing this popular goodness,” he said.

Those who lose that sense of people, community, Pope Francis argued, lose their happiness, because they lose the ability to see reality through the lenses of those who are around them, as a reminder that despite the challenges they might face, they’re not alone.

“I was touched by the children… who would greet me, because they too were participating in the joy,” passed onto them by their parents.

Pope Francis underlined the “respect for religious identity” he encountered in the three countries, particularly in Mauritius and in Mozambique, where he took part in an interreligious youth gathering for peace. He said he was moved by the friendship among religions he found in Mauritius, underlining that Christians, Muslims and Hindus can work together.

As he’s done before, he warned against proselytism, saying that that’s something for political parties or sports teams but not for religion.

“Someone can say, pope, what does it mean for you to evangelize?” the pontiff said. “There’s a phrase by St. Francis that I like: Preach the Gospel, and, if needed, use words.”

Evangelization, he said, is to be done by example, and only when one is asked where their attitude comes from should one talk about faith. The protagonist of evangelization, Pope Francis said, is not the individual Christian but the Holy Spirit.

“When you see religious proposals on the path of proselytism, that is not Christian,” he said, noting that in Mauritius, there’s an understanding among the followers of different religions that they’re all brothers.

The Holy Father also said he was moved by the fact that as he passed by in the popemobile, adults would try to show him their children, as if to say, “this is my treasure, my joy, my pride, my triumph.” He contrasted the “youth” of Africa with Europe’s aging population, noting that “mother Europe” is becoming “grandmother Europe.”

Asked about the United Kingdom’s and the United States’s refusal to return the island of Chagos, close to Mauritius and where the U.S. has a military base, to its original inhabitants, Pope Francis said countries that acknowledge international organizations such as the United Nations are called to live up to their rulings.

The U.N.’s General Assembly voted earlier this year in favor of the locals, some 2,000 of whom were deported in the 1960s.

A Message to Journalists

The Holy Father was also asked about growing xenophobia in Africa, saying it’s not a problem only on this continent, but a “human disease like measles.”

Xenophobia, he said, is a disease justified by “purity of race” and it rides on “political populism.”

Asked by Spanish journalists about the future of journalism, he said he doesn’t have a “crystal ball” and that he’s not an expert. However, he listed a series of values he believes journalists should have.

Communicators, he said, have to “transmit facts,” clearly distinguishing things that have happened from the “narrative”. Communications, Francis added, must always be “humane” and help build, not destroy.

“It’s always key to distinguish the facts from the narrative,” he said. “This is what being objective is all about, and this is one of the values that the news industry needs to retain.”

Pope Francis Bids Farewell to Madagascar, Travels Back to Rome

By Melissa Butz

On September 10, the president of Madagascar waited for Pope Francis at the airport entrance to thank him and accompany him to the base of the plane.

They met one another in a terminal lounge. In the background could be heard the tunes of farewell songs, prepared by choirs.

During the brief meeting, the president’s wife also gave the pontiff a final parting gift of the visit.

Then Pope Francis said goodbye to each of the bishops of Madagascar and some members of the country’s government.

A choir then sang a melody, sending the Holy Father off on his long journey.

Before entering the plane, Pope Francis turned to say goodbye one last time. At 8:15 a.m., the Air Madagascar plane took off.

The trip to Rome will be around 10 hours. The plane will fly over Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt and Greece before landing in Rome at around 7 p.m.

After 150 Years, The Foundling Continues to Serve

By Emily Drooby and Allyson Escobar

MANHATTAN — The Foundling — one of New York City’s largest and oldest child welfare and social services organizations — is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

It all began with one baby.

In 1869, Sister Mary Irene Fitzgibbon, S.C., found an orphaned baby on the steps of St. Peter’s Church in lower Manhattan. Moved with compassion, Sister Mary Irene took the child into the care of her community. She then felt compelled to help as many of New York’s children abandoned on the streets as she could. With the help of her fellow Sisters of Charity, Mary Irene rented a brownstone on East 12th Street, which became the first headquarters of The New York Foundling.

“She put a cradle at the entrance of the building, with a sign: ‘Let it be known, do not abandon your children. Bring your children to me,” Sister Carol Barnes, a current board member of The New York Foundling, told The Tablet. “And that very first night, on October 11, 1869, they heard a cry at the door … and pinned to the baby’s blanket was a note. Her name is Sarah, take good care of her. And thousands of babies followed.”

By the end of 1869, more than 100 babies were left at the center, which was called New York Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of Charity.

The New York Foundling has since expanded its mission to assisting people with developmental disabilities and mental health issues, and to helping young people in the juvenile system. Its main focus, though, is child welfare.

“We touch the lives of more than 30,000 people every year,” said Kirkley Strand, vice president of development and communications. “We started as an organization that was meeting the needs of the community when nobody else was. So that is what has driven us and what drove the Sisters of Charity … the idea that we have to be responsive to the needs of our community, working to help our neighbors and do so in the best way possible.”

Sister Carol Barnes, a former president of the Sisters of Charity, said the organization “has responded to unmet needs throughout our history, and continues to respond until the need no longer exists.”

The Foundling has several locations in New York City, including two in Brooklyn. It also has a location in Puerto Rico. At its headquarters in Manhattan, it has a “crisis nursery,” a temporary home for toddlers who are homeless or at-risk.

The nonprofit has a staff of more than 2,000 and is supported financially by the Sisters of Charity, corporate backers and community partners.

In the 19th century, it was known for helping “orphan trains,” a process of transporting homeless, abandoned, abused and orphaned children and placing them in Catholic parishes and families throughout the country.

Sister Mary Irene and her community also established St. Anne’s Maternity Pavilion/Hospital, and later St. Mary’s Residence, to serve single, pregnant mothers in need, as well as a nursing tech program for young women to help care for children in the maternity ward.

In 1977, the New York Foundling merged with St. Agatha’s Home for Children to provide a more comfortable home for more orphans.

On Oct. 2, the New York Foundling will celebrate its 150th Anniversary Gala at The Plaza hotel, culminating its yearlong celebrations for the milestone anniversary. It will honor Gregory B. Braca, a longtime Foundling supporter, who is now president and CEO of TD Bank.

The Foundling is part of New York City’s history.

“I think when we do things that are risk-taking and you take a deep breath and do it, you can have such a successful result,” Sister Carol said. “I can’t imagine this city without The Foundling. It continues to be important as long as the need exists … and I pray for that day The Foundling is no longer needed.”

Facing Gentrification, Brooklyn Parishioners Still Come Together to Worship

By Emily Drooby

Hundreds of people packed Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary & St. Stephen Church on the morning of Sunday, September 9.

While the church is located in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, many of its parishioners are not.

As life-long parishioners, Michael Delgado and his wife Illisse call Sacred Hearts – St. Stephens their second home.

They wake up early on Sundays to prepare for their hour and fifteen minute commute from Mount Vernon, New York to Brooklyn to attend church.

The price of living in the area is what made them move over an hour away.

“We couldn’t find anything affordable in Brooklyn, the prices have gone up so much,” he said. “It’s a sad thing to not be able to stay in the neighborhood you grew up in,” Michael added.

Much like the rest of Brooklyn, the neighborhood of Carroll Gardens has been the process of gentrifying for years. Changes and renovations continue to cause housing prices to skyrocket.

According to NYU’s Furman Center, the median gross rent in the neighborhood jumped from $1,660 in 2006 up to $2,280 in 2017, making it one of the most expensive neighborhoods anywhere in the city.

These numbers follow a pattern of rising housing prices throughout Brooklyn.

“We’re seeing it in Crown Heights, we’re seeing it in parts of Flatbush, certainly in downtown Brooklyn,” said Judith Desena, a gentrification expert and sociology professor at St. John’s University. Desena says the rising costs are working against families, but have created a boost in roommates willing to live together and share expenses.

“Sometimes there’s four of them sharing an apartment. We are seeing more and more of unrelated adults living together. They pool their money, right? Families can’t compete with that,” she explained.

For years, parishioners of Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen have been feeling the effects of the gentrification of Carroll Gardens and Brooklyn as a whole.

Colleen Trojano and her family couldn’t meet the bills, and were sad when they had to leave.

“My husband grew up here. We raised our children here, and just the history of the neighborhood where rising prices came in, we ended up moving out to Staten Island,” she said.

What’s remarkable about this congregation is that a longer commute hasn’t prevented these families from coming back.

“It’s not just that you’re going to church to praise God, or to praise Jesus, it’s also to pray together as a family. It’s like, you go visit your family every week. I visit my mom every week, so in a sense, for me it’s the same thing,” said Illisse.

“It’s about people, it’s about the relationships we have with one each other, Christ and that we experience together as a community,” explained John Heyer, the church’s Pastoral Associate.

Although rising housing prices are sending families to new homes, the faith community remains in Carroll Gardens remains solid.

Following in Mother Teresa’s Footsteps, Mom Feeds Kids in Poverty

Currents News Staff

Champale Anderson is a health care provider and mother of six. She has been feeding kids in her north St. Louis neighborhood for five years.

“I was noticing how the kids they are always hungry,” said Champale, who has an open-door policy on school days for kids in the community.

The can knock on her door before and after school, and she’ll hand them a snack for breakfast, and lunch.

“They get off the bus and they take off running. They never know what I will have in the bag. I switch it up like special treats for my special babies.”

The bags are filled with goodies that many kids love to eat, like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cookies, fruit, vegetables, juice, snacks, and a few surprises.

On a mission to feed kids in her community who live in poverty and who sometimes may go hungry, Champale is helping many kids in need.

“It makes me proud, and I want to keep going. I want to go to different neighborhoods and give out bags.”

What makes this act of kindness so impressive is that Champale makes about 100 bags a day, and pours so much love into each one to make it possible.

“I do a hundred bags every day, sometimes a little more for the kids that’s coming extra. Their parents bring them over here to get the bags, and I’m going to start doing extra bags now. Maybe about 150,” she said.

Outside her home sit a sign that reads, ‘Champ Teardrop’s: Free snack anytime, and donations welcome.’

Inside Champale’s home, a cross sits in the center of her table where she prepares the snacks.

Champale says she lives by a quote by Mother Teresa: “I alone can not change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

There is also a GoFundMe campaign running for Champale’s lunch program.

Pope Francis to Island of Mauritius: Defend the ‘Culture of Encounter’

By Melissa Butz

Early on September 9, Pope Francis flew to the island of Mauritius to begin the final, eight-hour leg of his African trip.

He was warmly welcomed by around 10 percent of the country’s population as he made his way to the Monument to Mary, Queen of Peace. It is the same place where St. John Paul II celebrated Mass 30 years ago.

Pope Francis spoke of the Beatitudes, mentioning French missionary priest, Blessed Jacques-Desire Laval, who cared for the poor slaves in the country.

“The ‘apostle of Mauritian unity,’ Blessed Jacques-Désiré Laval, so greatly venerated in these lands. Love for Christ and for the poor so marked his life that he could not conceive of an ‘aloof and sanitized’ preaching of the Gospel,” Pope Francis said.

After eating lunch with the local bishops, the pontiff went to a special shrine containing the missionary’s tomb, where the Holy Father prayed.

Immediately after, Pope Francis spoke to the Mauritian president and government authorities in his final encounter of the day.

He also visited the tomb of the “apostle of Mauritian unity,” Blessed Jacques-Désiré Laval.

He thanked them for their cultural, ethnic and religious diversity, but most of all for respecting differences.

Pope Francis encouraged the people to, likewise, honor the dignity of any migrant who is in search of a better life on their island. “Be protagonists and defenders of a true culture of encounter that enables migrants (and everyone) to be respected in their dignity and their rights,” he told them.

He also suggested a new policy to the country, which benefits economically from tourism.

“I would like to encourage you to promote an economic policy focused on people and in a position to favor a better division of income, the creation of jobs and the integral promotion of the poor,” Pope Francis said.

The country’s political leaders then accompanied the pontiff to the airport to say their goodbyes before Pope Francis returned to Madagascar.