Vatican
City, 24 September 2013 (VIS) – In a press conference held in the
Holy See Press Office this morning, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio,
president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants
and Itinerant Peoples, along with Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil
and Fr. Gabriele F. Bentoglio, presented the Holy Father's message
for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which will be celebrated
on 19 January 2014, focusing on the theme of “Migrants and
Refugees: towards a better world”.
Cardinal
Veglio explained that the first message from Pope Francis for this
day centres on the concept of a better world, a concept that should
be considered in the context of the phenomenon of globalisation, with
its positive and negative elements. Against this background, he
outlines the phenomenon of human mobility that Francis, quoting
Benedict XVI, defines as “a sign of the times”. “It would
appear appropriate at this time to recall that the phenomenon of
human mobility is striking precisely because of the multitude of
people affected. According to statistics published by the United
Nations at the beginning of September, 232 million people live
outside their nation of origin. Furthermore, 740 million are internal
migrants, those who move within the territory of their own country.
In total, it is estimated that around a billion human beings
experience migration. With reference to the whole of humanity, these
statistics would indicate that around a seventh of the world
population is affected by migration, and as a consequence, one person
in seven is a migrant”.
“However,
in spite of difficulties and dramatic situations, migration is an
invitation to imagine a different future, in which we glimpse the
creation of a 'better world'. … It is an invitation aimed at the
development of all humanity, including each person with his or her
own spiritual and cultural potential'. … If we accept that culture
is an entirety of spiritual, existential and intellectual aspects
that distinguish a society, including also ways of life, fundamental
rights, value systems, traditions and beliefs, then it will be
possible to confirm that the whole of human existence is permeated by
attitudes of encounter and welcome”.
Archbishop
Kalathiparambil continued by taking up the theme of reintegration of
migrants, emphasising that “no-one can remain in an emergency
situation, such as a refugee camp, on a long-term basis”. He also
referred to the increase in cases of refugees who settle in urban
areas and who are therefore more difficult to identify and help. To
face this problem, innovative methods are being developed, including
communication via text messages on the distribution of benefits,
internet connection, the production of films on refugees' rights,
telephone helplines to provide information and the opportunity to
obtain credit cards enabling financial assistance. “This is all
currently happening in the Middle East, where Syrian refugees are
living in refugee camps and, in most cases, in urban areas”.
“On
the one hand, this is about ensuring a limit to human suffering, and
on the other, to protecting and promoting a dignified life, at the
same time offering adequate structures, stability and hope for the
future. It must be said that there has been an increase in
international minimum standards, for instance in relation to
availability of foodstuffs, shelter, education, healthcare, detention
and repatriation. Besides, these international standards are of a
qualitative nature and are therefore universal and applicable in any
context”.
However,
the welcome offered to refugees also presents some very important
problems. “Some countries are making great sacrifices to face this
phenomenon. For example, more than two million refugees now live in
those countries bordering Syria, while in Europe, especially in
Sweden and Germany, fifty thousand Syrian refugees seek asylum. For
decades millions of refugees, mostly Afghan, have been settling in
Pakistan and in Iran, and of course many refugees are reaching other
countries, such as Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya. Initially, it was
expected that the responsibility for these refugees would be shared.
Instead, this aspect has not been considered in the agreements, and
similarly it is not known what will happen to the refugees during and
after their request for asylum. As a consequence, for many years the
countries who have received refugees have been able to count only on
themselves”.
Fr.
Bentoglio concluded the presentation by summarising the history of
World Day for Migrants and Refugees, instituted during the
pontificate of Benedict XV and celebrated the first time on 21
February 1915. Intended initially for the Italian dioceses and later
for those frequented by Italian immigrants in America, it acquired a
universal nature with the Apostolic Constitution Exsul Familia
promulgated in 1952 by Pius XII, which recommended the activation of
adequate support structures to assist migratory pastoral activity; it
also calls for “solidarity”. From the 1970s onwards “the
ecclesiological vision of the Vatican Council II is mirrored also in
migratory pastoral care … the migrant emerges as a person and as a
citizen with rights and duties and, first as a beneficiary of works
of Christian charity, the migrant becomes a subject of
evangelisation, agent of God's providential plan for the edifying
encounter between peoples and the diffusion of the Gospel. Finally,
we again uphold the tradition that the Holy Father himself signs the
annual message for this Day, which reaches out to all the Catholic
Church, including migrants and refugees. It is clearly understood
that this is a special occasion for offering a biblical-theological
approach to the pastoral care of human mobility, which finds its apex
in Jesus the Saviour, a foreigner in the world of men, who continues
his work of salvation through the foreigners of today, migrants and
refugees”.
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