The Latest: Pope: Migration a challenge, not a danger

MADRID -- The Latest on migrants and refugees entering Europe (all times local):11:40 a.m.Pope Francis says the phenomenon of migration doesn't pose a danger to Europe's culture but rather a challenge for societies to grow.Francis made the comments during...

The Latest: Pope: Migration a challenge, not a danger

MADRID -- The Latest on migrants and refugees entering Europe (all times local):

11:40 a.m.

Pope Francis says the phenomenon of migration doesn't pose a danger to Europe's culture but rather a challenge for societies to grow.

Francis made the comments during a visit Friday to the Roma Tre university. There, he was reunited with Nour Essa, one of the Syrian refugees whom Francis brought back with him after visiting Lesbos, Greece, last year. Since then, Essa has won a government scholarship at Roma Tre to finish her biology studies.

Essa asked Francis about fears that Syrians and Iraqi migrants threaten Europe's Christian culture.

Francis responded by noting that his native Argentina is a country of immigrants and that ending wars and poverty would trim migration flows.

He said: "Migration isn't a danger, it's a challenge to grow," and the key is integrating new migrants.

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8:45 a.m.

The local Red Cross says an emergency team is assisting more than 300 migrants who crossed the fence surrounding Spain's enclave of Ceuta in North Africa early Friday.

Spain's Civil Guard said that a surveillance camera registered how more than 500 people approached the fence with tools and clubs that they used to break one of the gates.

Around 300 of them managed to enter Spanish soil, said a spokesman with the force who asked not to be identified in line with internal protocol. Two agents were injured and are being treated at a local hospital, he said.

Hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants living illegally in Morocco try to enter Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave, each year in hope of getting to Europe.

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