On July 8, 2013, Pope Francis posed the rhetorical question, “Where is your brother?” He then responded, “This is not a question directed to others; it is a question directed to me, to you, to each of us. These brothers and sisters of ours were trying to escape difficult situations to find some serenity and peace; they were looking for a better place for themselves and their families, but instead they found death.”
The Pope asked this question on his historic visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa to pray for refugees and migrants from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia seeking to enter Europe, but who were lost at sea. Pope Francis—the first non-European pope, the first pope from the global south—prayed for those who had drowned during their journey. He threw a wreath of flowers into the sea as a sign of mourning. He then proceeded with an open-air mass, during which he denounced the “globalization of indifference,” which “makes us think only of ourselves, makes us insensitive to the cries of other people.”
His last post before he died on Easter Monday 2025 reflected a similar sentiment when he stated, “Christ is risen! These words capture the entire meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life.”
As we celebrate Africa Day this month, we have another moment for celebrating life. While Africa Day has a focus on the celebration of life of Africans and people of African descent globally, it is also a day for celebrating the lives of all. With his papal campaign of mercy for all and not just the selected few, Pope Francis recognized the horrors that end life and our call to sustain life.
Pope Francis declared 2025 to be a Jubilee Year of Hope with a focus on debt relief, which disproportionately affects countries in Africa and small island nations populated by people of African descent. Bread is supportive of this focus and its relation to our Nourish Our Future campaign. This campaign will be our theme for our 50th Anniversary Advocacy Summit, June 9–11 in Washington, D.C. Please go here to learn more about this campaign and act with your Offering of Letters. And go here for more information on the Summit and to participate. Meanwhile, you are invited to participate in the Call to Prayer on May 25—or at any time in May.
The African Union is the primary host for Africa Day and the African Union Global Interfaith Day of Prayer. The Global Day of Prayer is being convened, not as a symbolic gesture but as a prophetic summons. A call for repentance, realignment, and radical love for the Earth and one another.
Recently, I was honored to be a part of discussions about this call at the recent UN session at the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent Fourth Session that addressed these concerns of life—including through a faith lens.
Angelique Walker-Smith is senior associate for Pan African and Orthodox Church engagement at Bread for the World.
