"Caring for the Migrant": The Countercurrent Gesture That Leo XIV Will Make in Paris

In the midst of the rise of anti-immigration parties in Europe, Leo XIV will make a countercurrent bet during his visit to Paris this weekend: going to the Maison Bakhita, whose motto is "caring for the person" who arrives from outside, no matter why they did so or where they come from.

This trip, private in nature and scheduled for Saturday, September 26, reflects one of the priorities of his pontificate. For the pope, migrants are not numbers or files: "they are human beings and must be treated humanely."

And that is precisely the mission of the Maison Bakhita, a resource center for migrants opened in 2019 in the 18th district of Paris, one of the neighborhoods with the largest foreign population in the capital.

"I was a stranger and you welcomed me" is the phrase from the Gospel of Saint Matthew printed on a wall next to the small office of Bakhita's director, Gwendoline Fasano. "It was Jesus who said it," Fasano clarifies to EFE, while managing the final details of the pope's visit.

"We want to remain neutral and welcome each person equally. It is not our job at the Maison Bakhita to give an opinion on whether immigrants should stay or leave. Today they are here and we care for them because they are human beings who need help at this moment," she summarizes.

The Bakhita house headquarters, measuring 1,600 square meters and whose name honors the Sudanese religious woman Saint Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947), serves some 150 migrants a day, a large part of them from sub-Saharan Africa and many of them of Muslim religion.

Its main mission is to provide training in the French language and in trades such as pattern-making or cabinetmaking, but it is also a sanctuary for people who need to be heard.

"We have a psychologist who comes free of charge twice a week. If she detects that someone is not well, she refers them to the doctor, who holds consultations here every 15 days," Fasano explains.

When a person needs to apply for accommodation so as not to sleep on the street, look for food or prepare a dossier for their regularization, Bakhita refers them to other humanitarian associations specialized in those areas.

When a migrant arrives at Bakhita, they do not need to show any documentation or tell their personal story. The religion they profess does not count either. "We welcome people just as they arrive. We don't even know where they come from, unless they want to tell us which country," the director adds.

A Brazilian Nun to Provide Comfort

Bakhita has three permanent employees, a hundred volunteers (many of them former beneficiaries of the house) and two nuns who reside in the facility itself.

One of them is the Brazilian María dos Santos, from the congregation of the Scalabrinian Missionaries, founded in the 19th century by the bishop of Piacenza, Juan Bautista Scalabrini.

"I am a very warm person and that helps a lot those who arrive here sad. I dedicate myself exclusively to listening, because we have no other answer or solution to offer. It is about listening and giving comfort. That is what we do constantly," Sister dos Santos tells EFE.

After having served in several countries, the religious woman recognizes two ways in which societies welcome those who come from outside. "There are people who have empathy with immigrants, there are others who don't even want to see them. The latter are afraid of the unknown, which is very human and understandable," the nun reasons.

For dos Santos, sometimes it is only necessary to look into the person's eyes for prejudices to fall away.

A Private Bathroom for Leo XIV

Security will be one of the challenges of Leo XIV's visit to Bakhita. Its director explains that the French and Vatican security services have been working since early September to ensure there are no surprises.

"Last Friday about 15 Swiss Guard agents came, all in suits, imposing. But when you talked to them they were very smiling, very kind. They toured all the rooms taking photos, looking at the evacuation plans and everything. The pope will even have his own bathroom," she recounts.

During the half hour that the visit will last, restricted to the media, everything will be timed.

The greeting at the entrance of the building and the climb to the second floor on foot precede the high point: a meeting with a former beneficiary of Bakhita (an Afghan refugee expert in pattern-making). Alongside him will be a Nigerian victim of human trafficking and a person with a disability, representatives of other associations.