1. On February 21, 400 African migrants arrived on the shores of Italy.  It was the largest number of African migrants to land in Italy on a single day.  Tens of thousands of African migrants set out for Europe every year.  Many pay human smugglers to get them across the Sahara or Mediterranean but die on the way.  The 21 February event happened only a few days after GC 35 had discussed the world-wide problem of migrants.  But the delegates did not have to go very far to see the impact of migration.  Only a block away from the Curia, migrants from Africa and Bangladesh line Via Conciliazione trying to earn a living by selling bags, watches, and other small items.  The migrants often play a game of "cat and mouse" with the police who frequently drive them from one street to another.  Usually the migrants work in a group and one man serves as a look-out for police in the area.  I did not want to call attention to the migrants that I was taking a picture, but I suspect one look-out saw me snapping a photo.

This picture caught my sight one day.  The steps of this church on Via Della Conciliazione, a block away from the Curia, is usually crowded with African migrants trying to sell their products.  Some days, when the police are patrolling other areas, there can be more than 20 African migrants selling goods in front of the church.  It often looked to me as if the church was giving sanctuary to these migrants who were trying to earn a living.  But on this particular day, when I passed the church, it was not African migrants in front of the church, but nuns selling plants in small pots.  Could it be that the good sisters had driven the migrants away?