June 3 | 
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Pope talks to children of tragic death of refugee girl
The story of a young migrant girl who drowned at sea was at the heart of Pope Francis’ address to some 400 children who on Saturday had traveled to the Vatican from the southern Italian region of Calabria.
Speaking off the cuff to the children who had arrived by the ‘Treno per Bambini’—‘Children’s Train’—and who represented various religions, cultures, and ethnicities, the Pope asked them to come up with a name for the unknown girl.
“Let us think of this little girl: what was her name? I do not know: a little girl with no name,” the Pontiff said. “Each of you give her the name you would like, each in his heart. She is in heaven, she is looking on us.”
The Pope told the story of the little girl as it was recounted to him by a rescue worker who had attempted to save the child, only to succeed in saving her lifejacket.
“He brought me this jacket,” the Pontiff said, showing the life jacket to the children. “With tears in his eyes he said to me, ‘Father, I couldn’t do it— here was a little girl on the waves, and I did all I could, but I couldn’t save her: only her life vest was left.’
“I do not (tell you this because I) want you to be sad, but (because) you are brave and you (should) know the truth: they are in danger—many boys and girls, small children, men, women—they are in danger.”
The annual Treno per Bambini, which brings a group of young boys and girls, is an initiative of the Pontifical Council of Culture. The theme of this year’s event is Carried by waves, which is meant to evoke the image of both danger and hope experienced by migrants.
Among the initiatives involved in the event are the John XXIII Association, and the Quattrocanti Children’s Orchestra of Palermo, which brings together boys and girls of eight different ethnicities.
At least 700 refugees are believed to have been killed in numerous shipwrecks across the Mediterranean last week, according to the United Nations high Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Around 14,000 people were rescued since Monday and there have been at least three large shipwrecks. The loss of life appears to add up to the deadliest week in the Mediterranean since April 2015, when as many as 800 people are believed to have been killed in a single shipwreck.
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