Pope Francis to address refugee crisis in U.N. speech

Pope Francis is expected to focus on the need for peace in a conflict-torn world facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II when he addresses the United Nations later this month, the Holy See said Wednesday.

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio and U.N. ambassador, said the pope’s address, in his native Spanish, to world leaders at the 193-member General Assembly on Sept. 25 will likely stress on poverty and bad government as drivers of conflict and migration.

He said the plight of tens of thousands of people seeking safety and a new life in Europe will be touched on in the pope’s U.N. speech because it’s an international issue and “a universal problem.”

The archbishop said Francis’ two and a half hour visit to the U.N. will be the fifth by a pope and the shortest because of time constraints.

Auza also told reporters that the pope will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month. But Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told AP: “President Putin will not be here on Sept. 25.” Putin has met the pope at least twice previously.

Auza responded telling AP: “I have not been informed so far that the president will not be there. I will consult the U.N. … If the president is not there, the meeting will not take place.”

Auza said the pope is expected to express appreciation in his General Assembly speech for the U.N. role in trying to minimize conflict and alleviate suffering – but he said the world body has also seen “lots of failures.”

“There is no greater failure of the U.N. than to be incapable, unable to prevent what is going on in the Middle East now and North Africa,” the archbishop said.

During his U.N. visit, Francis will have a one-on-one meeting with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and then a larger meeting with U.N. and Vatican officials, Auza said.