Pope Francis has called on the whole of Europe to take charge of immigration, instead of letting "Mediterranean countries" take the bulk of the work. The pontiff also suggested immigration could help boost Europe's fertility rate.
Pope Francis spoke about migration during his trip to Budapest, calling for the inclusion of those who are "foreign, different... and poor".
Pope Francis on Sunday (April 30), during the last day of his three-day visit to Hungary, urged "brothers and sisters" to become, "like Jesus, an open door".
"It is sad and it hurts to see closed doors - the closed doors of our selfishness towards those who walk beside us every day," he said in a sermon during mass in Kossuth Lajos square in Budapest.
Immigration could address declining fertility rate
Speaking to reporters during his flight back to Rome from Budapest, the Pope stressed that Europe must take charge of immigration, listing Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Italy and Spain as "suffering the most" from the migrant crisis as they are the "Mediterranean countries where migrants land".
"If Europe doesn't take charge of this situation, the problem will only belong to these countries", noted the pope, highlighting that Europe must prove that migration "is a European Union matter as well."
The pope also indicated that immigration could help Europe's birth rate.
People "in countries like Italy and Spain are not having children", he said. "I spoke about this last year at a meeting with families. The average age in Italy is 46, in Spain it is even higher. There are deserted villages".
According to the pontiff, no migration program is being promoted even though "it could help these countries like it did for example in Sweden".