Vatican City, 19 November 2014 (VIS) –
““Cooperation and Development in the Pastoral Care of Migrations”
is the theme of the 7th World Congress on the Pastoral Care of
Migrants, organised by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care
of Migrants and Itinerant People, and taking place from 17 to 21
November. The meeting will be attended by more than three hundred
people from 93 countries of all five continents, and will be
structured in relation to three themes: the diaspora, migrants as
partners, and the dignity of the migrant. In addition, during the
conference eleven episcopal conferences will present their pastoral
work with migrants and at the end of the meeting a final document
will be drawn up, to serve as a guide for the next five years.
The Congress is so designed that each
day is dedicated to a different topic within the wider context of the
theme of this Event: “Cooperation and Development in the Pastoral
Care of Migrations”. Our plan of action is structured in such a way
so as to culminate, through the different conferences and further
debates that elaborate on the key note addresses, in the personal
exchange and the expression of concrete ideas and thoughts in the
Working Groups of the afternoon. My dear friends, we are here not
only to share our experiences and ideas, but to work together to
elaborate recommendations and ideas that will be of assistance to
each one of us in our pastoral care for the next few years.
The speakers in the inaugural session
will be Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical
Council, the Italian minister of the Interior, Angelino Alfano, and
the director general of the International Organisation for Migration
(OMI), William Lacy Swing. A text sent by Msgr. Antonio Camilleri,
under secretary for Relations with States, will also be read.
Cardinal Veglio spoke on the challenges
of the migratory phenomenon and the situations of emergency that
require the attention of the international community, emphasising the
risk that the destination countries receive migrants with hostility,
distrust and prejudice. As a response to this problem he proposed two
major lines of action: cooperation and development which, in the
specific context of pastoral care, must accentuate the positive
aspect of migratory phenomena.
The minister of the Interior, Angelino
Alfano, acknowledged that migration constitutes a political and
institutional priority, and affirmed that receiving and helping
immigrants is a responsible decision that Europe must take “to
demonstrate in practice that the protection of every human life is
the first duty of a State that wishes to define itself as civilised
and democratic”. The director of the International Organisation for
Migration underlined the absolute priority of welcoming all
immigrants and saving every human life, citing the example of the
Italian “Mare Nostrum” project, and reiterated the need for more
functional cooperation between the states of the European Union to
better face salvage operations.
Finally, Msgr. Camilleri, in his
discourse, referred to the Church's ongoing commitment to
accompanying countries and peoples on their path, often troubled and
full of the unpredictable aspects linked to dislocation, and
underlined the urgency of combating phenomena such as criminality and
violence linked to migration.
In his presentation of the Conference
Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil, secretary of the Pontifical
Council, recalled that in the diaspora – “when migrants often
leave behind their families and relatives in the hope of sending back
remittances to better their economic and social status, and one day
finding a way to help them migrate abroad as well” - there clearly
emerges the theme of the family, whose care “requires not only
cooperation between the country of origin and the country of
destination, but also a strong cooperation between the Church of
origin, and the Church which welcomes the migrant family”.
With reference to migrants as partners,
he remarked that they contribute and cooperate substantially to the
well-being and to the development not only of their country of
origin, but of their country of adoption, and emphasised the need of
improving public perception of migrants and immigration. He also
spoke on the role of women migrants, whose movement in the past was
closely linked to family reunification, whereas now they are
“protagonists and leading players along with their male
counterparts in the role that they undertake in today’s society”.
With regard to the final theme, the
dignity of the migrant, the archbishop commented that it is a
concept that derives from the acknowledgement that all persons are
created in God’s own image and likeness and that religious, ethnic,
social and cultural variables, citizenship or lack thereof, do not
change this fact that gives any individual an inherent and
immeasurable worth and dignity. The prelate concluded his
presentation by noting the potential of young migrants in building
social, economic, cultural and religious bridges of cooperation and
understanding across societies and Church communities.
