The Lampeduza Cross in the Parish of Mariaren Bihotza

Mar 22, 2018 | ECLA, Euskal Herria

Cruz 3Donostia, Spain. The Cross of Lampedusa, is a cross built from the remains of a boat in which migrants were shipwrecked in October 2013 off the coast of Italy.

This cross was built to honor the more than 300 people killed in the shipwreck, it became the symbol of the migration drama when Pope Francis blessed it and used it as a staff in his visit to Lampedusa. On this trip, Francisco invited the faithful that the cross should travel throughout the world so that the message of “solidarity and peace among cities, communities, parishes and cultures” would not be forgotten.

We have had the honor of receiving it in Guipúzcoa from March 5 to 25 and that our parish priest has requested it to pray with the students of Claret ikastola and has remained in Mariaren Bihotza parish on March 7th.

What we have felt when praying before the cross is difficult to describe: emotion, joy, pain, impotence, desire to continue fighting for the rights of all people …

Together with the cross, we have been able to rediscover the cross together as a symbol of human pain and rediscover the beauty and courage of our migrant brothers who die every day trying to cross the Mediterranean looking for a better life.

In addition, on March 17 the parishes of the neighborhood of Gros together with several schools in the area will carry out a march with the cross to claim that message of solidarity, respect and equality among people, races and colors that Pope Francis teaches us. How he himself said the day he blessed the cross, what happens on the border of Lampedusa as in many other borders … it’s a shame! “

By: Begoña Garde

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