Speaking in St. Peter's Square before tens of thousands of people the pontiff said he was thinking of those fleeing war.
"I am thinking of so many other people, so many marginalised people, so many asylum seekers, so many refugees. There are so many who don't want to take responsibility for their destiny," he said.
His comments did not appear in the official transcript of the homily.
It comes as Greece said it was not ready to start implementing a deal - which comes into force today - which would see the country sending migrants back to Turkey.
The agreement's aimed at discouraging people from making the dangerous journey from Turkey to Greece - earlier two migrants were found dead on a packed boat when it arrived in Lesbos.
Last week Macedonia took 1,500 migrants back to Greece claiming they were illegal immigrants.