An integrated policy is needed, addressing both the problems plaguing the the problems plaguing the countries of origin as well as the difficulties encountered the difficulties encountered by the destination countries in receiving such a large to accommodate such a high volume of migrant populations. Five days after the shipwreck, corpses are still being collected a mile from Lampedusa.

For years, hundreds of migrants have been trying to reach European shores every day. 22,000 have arrived on this small island since January of this year. Many remain on the way: 2,352 in 2011 alone. Thousands of human tragedies, with names and surnames, which, after a first emotional impact, run the risk of being neutralized, diluted among so much information, more or less trivial that floods us every day.

Certainly, we live exposed to the danger that Georg Simmel detected in the citizens of the big cities at the beginning of the 20th century, the danger of indolence: our psychic energies are limited, our nervous system is not made to react to so many and so varied stimuli, as would be expected in each case. However, there are things to which we must react with energy, injecting new sap into Structures and political practices that are already outdated.

On this occasion, the magnitude of the tragedy made it impossible to look away. Francis, who had already visited Lampedusa in July at the invitation of the local parish priest, was the first to describe the tragedy as a disgrace. Who should be ashamed? The fishermen who rushed to the rescue of the castaways? The immigrants escaping from countries at war or without opportunities? The businessmen who charter the clandestine boats? The Italian authorities? The European authorities? The Italians - it could have been Spaniards, we have a similar problem - who support restrictive legislation, for various reasons? The countries of Northern Europe, which do not give sufficient support to Mediterranean Europe, to face the problem?

The term "shame", which was immediately echoed by the most prominent media, is certainly a term that we can all see ourselves reflected in. However, in a special way it has managed to draw attention to the dramatic mismatch between the political diary and the humanitarian diary , which is becoming increasingly intolerable. A mismatch that speaks to us of the inertia we suffer from in diligently bridging the enormous gap between the ethical challenges we discover and the institutional resources we have to address them. It is clear that we need serious reflection on how we are to structure our ethical responsibilities, how to create the institutional spaces to address them. how to create the institutional spaces necessary to discuss these problems and find practical solutions to them.

In the meantime, as several commentators have already pointed out, Francis has shown signs of a leadership that today is conspicuous by its absence in the political arena: he has awakened us all from our lethargy and urged us to look in the right direction. France has called for an urgent meeting from the European Union, after Italy again called for financial aid to tackle the problem of illegal immigration. But the politicians are lagging behind. What should the requested financial aid be in the form of? Simply more coordination to monitor the coasts of the North African countries The prevailing internship since the Amsterdam Treaty of 1999, when European countries agreed to develop a common policy on asylum seekers and refugees, has been to ensure by all means that 'illegals' do not reach our shores. But this internship contradicts the stubborn reality of a globalized world, which is crying out for a revision of the ideas inherited from a previous political order, on the way of hierarchizing the needs of own and strangers, and which ultimately questions the very idea of the 'stranger'.

An integrated policy is required that addresses both the problems plaguing the countries of origin and the difficulties encountered by the countries of destination in receiving such a high volume of immigrant populations, especially in times of crisis.

But above all there is a need for policies that, overcoming the obsolete right-left dialectic, do not so flagrantly contradict the most elementary humanitarian sense, imposing sanctions on individuals or organizations that, at their own risk, decide to help migrants in distress, while personal political responsibilities are systematically diluted in abstract Structures . In this context, the mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino, has announced that his city will take in 155 survivors of the tragedy: a measure that, despite sounding populist, represents "a first sign of rebellion against resignation and indifference". It should be more than a sign. Europe likes to present itself to the world as an internally and externally supportive region, but in times of crisis we discover that solidarity is a demanding ideal. Among other things, it means assuming, individually and collectively, the principle that inspired classical Roman republicanism: not to consider oneself rich as long as there is only one poor person.