VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Benedict XVI urged immigrants on Sunday to respect the social values of their new countries and said laws are needed to protect their dignity.

Benedict, addressing pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square, said migration should be seen as a resource, not a problem. Without naming any country or nationality, he lamented the “painful” conditions refugees, exiles, the homeless and the persecuted often endure.

“I hope that soon there will be a balanced management of migratory flows and of human mobility in general, so benefits can reach the entire human family, beginning with concrete measures which favor legal emigration and the reuniting of families,” the pontiff added.

“Only respect for human dignity for all migrants, on one hand, and the recognition by the migrants themselves of the values of the societies which host them, will make possible the proper integration of families in the social, economic and political systems” where they are now living, Benedict said.

Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, a top official of the Vatican’s office on migrants, said the pope was particularly concerned about the families of refugees.

“There is a tendency today to protect order and well-being from the threat that many see in the continuous arrival of foreigners, a mix of migrants and refugees,” Marchetto told Vatican Radio.

The prelate lamented the lack of adequate funding for humanitarian assistance for refugees, “especially for women and children” leaving them easy prey for abuse.

The Catholic Church on Sunday was marking the annual World Day for Migrants and Refugees