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Liverpool (Agenzia Fides) – Migration is a global phenomenon that requires a greater pastoral attention on the part of the Church and her pastors, the European and African Bishops said in their final message issued at the close of the Seminar promoted by the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) and the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). The Seminar was entitled: “ 'I was a stranger and you made me welcome': Migration as a new opportunity for evangelization and solidarity,” which took place November 19-23 in Liverpool (England).
“This worldwide phenomenon covers persons of various categories, such as migrant workers and their families, students, refugees, asylum-seekers, internally-displaced persons, stateless persons, victims of human trafficking, particularly women and children, and others,” reads the document, a copy of which was sent to Agenzia Fides.
The African and European Bishops highlight the fact that “from these Church documents and the various experiences presented at this seminar, we would like to affirm that the stranger is not to be seen as a threat or a problem, but rather to be seen, through the lens of the Holy Scriptures and the teachings of the Church.”
The document continues, saying: “the migrant or refugee who should be welcomed first and foremost as a child of God, created in his image and likeness, and therefore possessing inalienable dignity and rights that the Church must promote and defend at all cost. Secondly, the migrant is also saved by the blood of the Saviour Jesus Christ, and therefore is heir to the Kingdom of God. Furthermore, he/she is not just anybody, but indeed is a brother/sister in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
In reaffirming the dignity of the migrant, the Bishops recall that he is “an occasion of grace from God and he/she brings with him/herself a new wealth of culture, spirituality, intellect and intelligence, creativity and still more of humanity.”
In order to make the Church capable of dedicating the maximum amount of attention possible to migrants, the Bishops from the two continents ask “all Episcopal Conferences in Africa and in Europe to put in place, where they are absent, appropriate institutions for the study of migrants, and especially for welcoming them and providing pastoral care for them. As a priority, attention should be given to the phenomenon of itinerant people, especially concentrating on the situation of refugees, migrant workers, women and students, who often are the most vulnerable.”
The care of the most vulnerable is also emphasized in another part of the document: “We recommend that competent priests, deacons and pastoral agents be appointed at various levels...for the pastoral care of migrants, with special attention to women, children and students who are most easily exploited by unscrupulous persons and cartels, which render them victims of immoral practices.”
The migration phenomenon is a complex reality that needs adequate study. With this in mind, in the document they mention that the “National Episcopal and Regional conferences should give priority to the study of this phenomenon of migration, in order to find solutions to the root causes of what makes someone a migrant, especially the movement of refugees, exiles, asylum-seekers, stateless persons, etc. from Africa to Europe.”
The next planning meeting for the CCEE/SECAM Seminar on migration will take place in 2009. In 2011, there will be a Worldwide Conference. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 3/12/2008)
