During his annual address to the Vatican’s Diplomatic Corps, Pope Francis urged European nations to “find the right balance between its two-fold responsibility” to protect its citizens and to welcome refugees.

The Catholic Herald is reporting on the pope’s remarks, which were delivered to the Corps of Diplomats in the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 11, in which he confronted the problem gripping several European nations after a recent spate of sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve which were committed by roving bands of recent Arab immigrants. Thus far, there have been 516 reports of sexual assaults and theft in the city of Cologne on the night of the attack, with dozens more reported in other German cities and neighboring countries.

“The massive number of arrivals on the shores of Europe appear to be overburdening the system of reception painstakingly built on the ashes of the Second World War, a system that is still an acknowledged beacon of humanity,” Francis said.

“Given the immense influx and the inevitable problems it creates, a number of questions have be raised about the real possibilities for accepting and accommodating people, about changes in the cultural and social structures of the receiving countries, and about the reshaping of certain regional geopolitical balances.

“Equally significant are fears about security, further exacerbated by the growing threat of international terrorism. The present wave of migration seems to be undermining the foundations of that ‘humanistic spirit’ which Europe has always loved and defended.”

However, he added that there should be “no loss of the values and principles of humanity, respect for the dignity of every person, mutual subsidiarity and solidarity, however much they may prove, in some moments of history, a burden difficult to bear.”

The Pope also “reaffirmed (his) conviction that Europe, aided by its great cultural and religious heritage, has the means to defend the centrality of the human person and to find the right balance between its two-fold moral responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens and to ensure assistance and acceptance to migrants.”

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