Appalled by the conditions and treatment of great numbers of migrants, refugees, displaced and trafficked persons, Pope Francis explained to several thousand representatives of Popular Movements in the Audience Hall on 5 November 2016 that "In the department [IHD] Cardinal Peter Turkson heads, there is a section concerned with those situations.
I decided that, at least for a while, that section would be directly under the Pope, because here we have a disgraceful situation that can only be described by a word that in Lampedusa came spontaneously to my lips: shame.
"[1][2][3] In mid-December, he named Michael Czerny S.J., a Canadian Jesuit, and Fabio Baggio C.S, an Italian Scalabrinian, to serve as under-secretaries of IHD to be "occupied specifically in the care of migrants and refugees.
[5][6] "The M&R Section's primary mission is to support the Church – locally, regionally, internationally – accompanying people at all stages of migration, especially those who are in one way or another forced to move or to flee."
[7] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the M&R section publishes weekly bulletins "aimed at sharing information and heightening awareness regarding problems, solutions and initiatives put into practice by the various Catholic actors who accompany vulnerable people and communities on the move.