'Pope of migrants' hailed by those he championed

By AFP/Herika Martinez

In frontier soup kitchens and shelters, Francis is remembered as the 'Pope of migrants' -- a steadfast champion who offered spiritual support during perilous escapes from poverty, violence and oppression.

Stranded a stone's throw from the Mexico-US border, 28-year-old Colombian Yulieth Cuellar is one of countless tired, poor and huddled masses today demonised by politicians in Washington and beyond.

But until his death on Monday, she could count on support from the Argentine-born son of Italian migrants, who became Latin America's first pope.

"He prayed a lot for us migrants" said Cuellar, recalling the late 88-year-old pontiff as she sheltered from the desert sun amid rows of empty pop-up tables and folding chairs in a Ciudad Juarez soup kitchen run by the church.

"His prayers touched us to the core" she said.

It was in Ciudad Juarez in 2016 that Francis climbed a ramp facing the Rio Grande that separates the city from El Paso, Texas, laid flowers under a black cross and blessed crowds of migrants.

The first Latin American pontiff was eager to see the border barrier with his own eyes, Jose Guadalupe Torres, bishop of Ciudad Juarez, recalled.

When he saw it, he said: "I have seen the promised land where neither milk nor honey flows," Torres said during a mass in honor of Francis.

A decade on, against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's anti-immigration crackdown, the late pope's prayers were welcomed more than ever.

"We must follow his example, continue welcoming our migrant brothers and sisters, protect them as best we can and integrate them into society," said Ileana Margarita Sorto, a migrant from El Salvador.

'Wonderful person'

Thousands of miles to the south, in a shelter in Honduras, 35-year-old Venezuelan Ericxon Serrano remembered Pope Francis as a "wonderful person."

The pontiff had asked Trump to "stop the harassment of migrants," said Serrano, who was returning to Caracas with his wife and two young children having abandoned hope of entering the United States.

Francis's defense of migrant rights saw him clash with Trump, including when the Republican first ran for president in 2016 with a promise to build a wall to seal off Mexico.

"Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian," Francis said.

In a letter to US bishops in February, the pontiff called Trump's deportation plans a "calamity" and pleaded for "the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized."

His support gave hope to migrants like Marisela Guerrero, a 45-year-old Venezuelan who moved to Chile a few months ago.

"His words encouraged all of us who left our countries," she said.

Priests and others involved in migrant support programs also remembered Pope Francis with fondness and respect.

He was a "living saint," says Cristina Coronado, head of the food kitchen in Ciudad Juarez, who said that Francis restored her confidence in the Church.

"It's very sad that this angel who defended migrants has passed away," said Father Francisco Calvillo, who ran a migrant shelter in the border city at the time of the pontiff's visit.

Calvillo hopes Francis will now ask God to "send us a pope, more bishops, more priests, more lay people who are sensitive to this reality" of migration.