{"id":2521,"date":"2022-10-03T10:04:43","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T10:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/why-they-cross-the-mediterranean-italys-guardian-angel-of-refugees-in-conversation-with-a-survivor-of-the-2013-lampedusa-shipwreck\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T19:07:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T19:07:47","slug":"why-they-cross-the-mediterranean-italys-guardian-angel-of-refugees-in-conversation-with-a-survivor-of-the-2013-lampedusa-shipwreck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/why-they-cross-the-mediterranean-italys-guardian-angel-of-refugees-in-conversation-with-a-survivor-of-the-2013-lampedusa-shipwreck\/","title":{"rendered":"Why They Cross the Mediterranean: Italy’s \u2018Guardian Angel of Refugees\u2019 in Conversation with a Survivor of the 2013 Lampedusa Shipwreck"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Why They Cross the Mediterranean: Italy’s \u2018Guardian Angel of Refugees\u2019 in Conversation with a Survivor of the 2013 Lampedusa Shipwreck<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n By<\/span>Linda Freund<\/strong>\n \n October 3, 2022<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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For nearly 20 years, Eritrean Catholic Priest Mussie Zerai has fielded thousands of distress calls from refugees and migrants on shipwrecked vessels in the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard the voices. I\u2019ve heard the screams. I\u2019ve heard the distress calls, shortly before talking to them, and shortly after they are swallowed up by the sea. If you don\u2019t have broad shoulders, if you don\u2019t have strong footing, which for me is my faith and prayer, the risk is huge. Even the risk of ending up in some psychiatric clinic is real,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

I profiled Father Zerai as part of CRCC\u2019s project on engaged spirituality<\/a>, which examines the role religion plays in motivating exemplary individuals to commit their lives to humanitarian work. \u201cSpiritual exemplars,\u201d like Zerai, are habitually confronted with the bleakest aspects of humanity. While others balk and turn away, they turn towards, helping support people through profound pain, injustice and human rights violations.<\/p>\n

The Migrant Priest<\/a>, a Voice of America documentary, shadows Father Zerai as he travels to Lampedusa, Italy to commemorate the October 3, 2013 shipwreck. Nine years ago, a fishing vessel with more than 500 migrants and refugees caught fire and capsized off the coast of Lampedusa. Only 155 people survived.<\/p>\n