At the end of June, another shipwreck occurred by the Italian coast. Once again, the sisters involved in the UISG Migrant Project were present at the pier to welcome those who managed to survive and to accompany in prayer those who did not.

Sr. Cristina Tibaldo, a Carmelite Sister of Charity, recounts her experience on that dramatic day.

At the pier, between pain and compassion

"We left quickly, because there were two shipwrecks during the night. The first person I met was a trembling and exhausted woman, who spoke French. In the bathroom, she confided in me that she had left from Tunisia and that her mother, along with her little brother, had disappeared in the water and were never found again. She had a stomachache. I called a doctor and helped her drink tea.

The survivors' cell phones, wrapped in plastic bags to protect them, were unfortunately wet and unusable. A group of fishermen alerted the rescue services, but many had already fallen into the sea. Bodies are not always found."

The presence of death

On that ship, in addition to the survivors, there was also the body of a young woman.
"I admired the kindness of the staff," Sr. Cristina continues, "who waited for all the migrants to disembark before taking the body off the boat. I asked the person in charge if I could come closer, and she replied: 'Right now, you can do whatever you want; it is us who cannot do so.'”

I stopped in front of that lifeless girl and wished her the chance to walk in calm waters, as Psalm 22 promises us. Her brother was beside her, overwhelmed by grief. The coffin was carried away in silence. We could do nothing but embrace each other and cry."

Shared prayer

In the afternoon, the sisters and volunteers gathered to share the story and to pray. Toward evening, an unexpected moment of grace occurred at the cemetery.
"We found ourselves in front of the mortuary," Sr. Cristina recalls, "and, to our great surprise, they opened the door. The brother was able to kneel beside his sister's coffin and pray for a long time. Then a Red Cross volunteer sang a Muslim prayer, accompanied by another young man from the pier. We prayed in silence: there is only one Lord."

The word that saves: compassion

The day ended with Sr. Cristina's powerful words, which resonate like a calla:
"The Gospel tells us: Leave the dead to bury their own dead. And I ask myself: Lord, if you find even just five people who have compassion, will you save this world? I believe that compassion is the only way to salvation. If there is no compassion, well, then, I am afraid..."

UISG – Migrant Project

Sr. Cristina's testimony reminds us that the presence of sisters at landing sites is not just material assistance, but above all closeness, listening, and prayer. It is a sign of the consecrated life that welcomes, mourns with those who mourn, and continues to hope for a more humane world.