SAN DIEGO — Desperate immigrants fearing for their lives in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and inside a U.S. courthouse.
People of faith who risk their lives and livelihoods to help them in both settings came together one extraordinary day in San Diego to share their work, to bring their organizations together and to pray.
The exchange confirmed the power of faith and hope to lift the lives of immigrants in their darkest moments, and planted seeds of future collaboration among the participants, which included Bishop Michael Pham, clergy, and lay volunteers.
The visiting delegation was comprised of Father Mattia Ferrari and Luca Casarini, who traveled from their native Italy, and César Piscoya, who arrived from Chile.
Father Ferrari is the coordinator of the World Meeting of Popular Movements, a network started by Pope Francis to support grassroots organizations around the globe that help the poorest communities and tackle the root causes of their marginalization.
The priest is also the chaplain for the organization Mediterranea Saving Humans, whose ship navigates the Mediterranean Sea to rescue men, women and children fleeing the African continent in precarious vessels, desperately trying to reach European soil to seek asylum.
Casarini is a co-founder of
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