Scalabrinian priest is awarded Mexican honor for helping migrants

Published: 2006-12-14

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Scalabrinian Father Florencio Maria Rigoni was awarded the 2006 Mexican Human Rights Award for his activism on behalf of migrants from Central America. During the award ceremony Dec. 13, Mexican President Felipe Calderon called Father Rigoni, a native of Italy, "a Samaritan" for helping people "he doesn't know." Father Rigoni has been running a shelter for undocumented migrants for ten years in the southern Mexican town of Tapachula, which borders Guatemala. He is also known for his outspoken criticism of Mexico's migration policy as well as the U.S. plan to build a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border. The priest, who sports a long white beard, walks barefooted and is known for his charisma, has said: "In 1,000 years no wall has ever stopped migrants."

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