Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop | Diocese of Honolulu

Pope Francis Easter Message March 31, 2024Pope Francis’s Easter morning message of prayer for consolation and hope for all in need echoes similar sentiments he shared with bishops visiting the Darien Gap in Central America a few days before Holy Week. In his correspondence to their meeting called ” our Holy Father quoted the story from the gospel of Matthew 26:7, in which the disciples asked Jesus where they should prepare his Passover meal. Our Holy Father said that if Jesus were to answer today, he would say:The Darién Gapis one of the most dangerous regions where migrants and refugees from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Haiti, and other parts of the world courageously trek through a wild lawless jungle on their journey for a better future. Many do not make it to the other side. As Pope Francis pointed out, “We accompanied the bishops at the beginning of their meeting as they went to the Darien Gap to welcome migrants emerging from the jungle at the remote frontier village of Llanas Blancas. During the past year alone, more than a half a million migrants attempted this treacherous passage wearing only their wet clothes while carrying small garbage bags of their life possessions. Many lost their lives. Those who survive the deadly journey are received by impoverished local indigenous tribes who transport the migrants in canoes made from tree trunks for a 3-hour ride on the river where they all, including so many crying children, disembark barefoot, exhausted, and hungry. The bishops welcomed three small boats arrive, each packed with more than a dozen traumatized passengers: the first canoe was full of Chinese migrants; the second full of Haitian families; and the third overflowing with Venezuelans. They all filed into a long military tent where each traveler had to register and have their “garbage-bag luggage” examined. Doctors without borders, who had been providing medical treatment, were no longer allowed there after they reported that migrant were being abused by border officials. However, the famished families were able to receive food and temporary shelter of tarp-roofed “holding areas” providing minimal protection from the sun and rain and ground mats to rest on. The bishops’ presence drew a large crowd as the Apostolic Nuncio from Panama used a loudspeaker to deliver a message of hope in the Pope’s own personal words:“, After a prayerful collective blessing, the bishops ventured into the crowd, offering individual blessings and listening to and talking story with migrant families. There was also a busload of basic essential supplies which were distributed as the bishops departed leaving the local pastoral workers reinforced by a commitment of an increased presence of Scalabrini missionary women and men joining the Claretians and lay workers ministering on the border. As the bishops journeyed back to their meeting, tears flowed freely, moved by the encounter of Christ in those they had met. The following day, the bishops with deepened determination, passed a declaration of solidarity committing to collaborative regional pastoral care with the migrants. This action resonated with the closing words of Pope Francis' Easter message: “For more on this moving witness to a Via Crucis passage today towards Easter hope, please see the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website www.usccb.org/news/2024/pope-urges-church-see-face-christ-migrants which calls all to welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrant families across all borders this Easter season and beyond. Mahalo"