Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Olga SeguraSeptember 04, 2015

At this point, many of us have seen the photographs circulating news networks and social media platforms: hungry children crying in the arms of parents; police blocking borders; crowds of refugees and migrants sleeping on European streets, waiting for any aid that might come their way. Most devastating have been the images of dead children washing onto the Libyan side of the Mediterranean Sea, like that of 3-year-old Aylan.

These scenes are extremely heartbreaking, with many publications refusing to publish them; others have published as a way to provoke the world’s consciousness. Here at America—we have not run the images until now—editor Kevin Clarke writes on the importance of viewing these tragedies, adding, “the nerve to look at these pictures will be enough to compel more of us to demand that our governments and the United Nations step up efforts to end the carnage.”

Others on social media have expressed the same. Below are just some of the many examples of how the religious community has responded. 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Catholics across Texas and the world, including Pope Leo XIV, are offering their prayers and support after deadly flooding struck Texas on July 4.
Each year at this time, near the Fourth of July, we contemplate freedom. But maybe we are also being called to do an extended examination of our own fears.
George Drance, S.J.July 07, 2025
Is it possible to embrace the idea of a special, evenly divinely ordained mission for America without violating Christian ethical principles?
Thomas J. MassaroJuly 07, 2025
Pope Leo XIV arrived in the papal summer retreat of Castel Gandolfo on Sunday to start a six-week vacation, giving the hilltop town back its most illustrious resident after Pope Francis stayed away during his 12-year pontificate.