A Senegalese former migrant who was
tortured in Libyan detention camps and was comforted by Pope
Francis said Thursday he will attend the late Argentine
pontiff's funeral in St Peter's Saturday.
When he talks about Francis, and that meeting in the Vatican,
Ibrahima's voice breaks with emotion.
"He listened to me with his eyes closed for 45 minutes,
caressing the scars on my hands," he says.
On Saturday, at the funeral of his "lifesaver" - as he likes to
call Francis - he will also be there, alongside the other
migrants and the rescuers of Mediterranea to wish 'fair winds'
to the honorary 'crew member' of the NGO that saves lives at
sea.
Wearing a dark suit, elegant jacket and the smile of a young
24-year-old, today Ibrahima said he wanted to pay homage to the
Pope's body, also telling his story to the cardinals he met as
he left St. Peter's Basilica.
A journey of six months, from Senegal to Italy, through the
hardships of the desert and the torture of Libyan concentration
camps.
"I was locked up for months - he recalls -, tortured,
humiliated, forced to witness the death of so many people, the
rapes and the violence. These are wounds that have marked not
only my skin, but my soul, which I will carry with me forever".
Last July, the meeting at Casa Santa Marta, over an hour in the
presence of the Pontiff, "who listened to me in silence, without
even moving the whole time".
"It was a moment that touched me deeply. He stayed to listen to
me for all that time despite his age. I told him everything,
about my journey but also about my religion, Islam - he recalls.
"'We are all brothers' he replied".
Today Ibrahima has two books under his belt, and he goes to
schools and universities to tell his story, so that everyone can
understand the desperation and pain of migrants fleeing in
search of hope in Europe.
"Francis was not only a father to Christians, but a companion,
an activist in the fight alongside us - the Senegalese
underlines.
"He was someone who fought every day for the people locked up in
concentration camps, against deaths in the Mediterranean or in
the desert.
"He was a person who continually launched appeals for a world
without blood and without wars. He did it with his heart and it
is no coincidence that his first apostolic journey was precisely
to Lampedusa to remember the victims of shipwrecks".
"At the end of our meeting - Ibrahima also recalls - he asked me
if I had documents and a job because he wanted to offer them to
me.
"But I want to go around and give a voice to people, to those
who don't have one. For this reason I politely declined, but I
thanked him from the bottom of my heart".
On Saturday, in St. Peter's Square, he will be there, elegant
and smiling as always, because - as he says - "the world still
needs a Pope like him".
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