Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mexico City (Agenzia Fides) - “In the current panorama of international migration patterns, the family is having to face new challenges and many inconveniences,” said the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, in his talk given on January 15 at the Theological-Pastoral Congress in Mexico City, part of the 6th World Meeting of Families. Speaking on “The Migrant Family,” the Archbishop took up the ideas from Pope Benedict XVI's Message for the 93rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which focuses on the migrant family, and recalled that “above all where migration is relevant, the role of the family nucleus plays a main role in the individual's capacity in production and success. The language as well, which is an instrument in communication, becomes a barrier of division between the first generation and those that follow within the same family. This is worsened by the isolation of family members, which sometimes leads to solitude and marginalization...The isolation seems to take effect more among women, who are often left alone in the house, with very few possibilities of establishing relationships with others, and that is, if they do not end up becoming victims of trafficking of human persons or prostitution.” Speaking of “barriers,” the Archbishop mentioned that “unfortunately, in a world that celebrated with joy the fall of the Berlin Wall, other walls are being erected between neighborhoods, dividing one city from another, and between nations.”
The migration phenomenon brings with it “a sad situation of marginalization that leads to frustration and insecurity and brings about possible conflict between the immigrant and his family and the society in which he is living.” The immigrant family, for its part, tends to place a series of “defense mechanisms” in order to restore balance in its own existence. “In particular, this reduces one's own aspirations, trying to carry out a 'provisional migration plan' in the least amount of time possible. In this manner, the 'aspirations' are limited merely to the economic field. However, with the passing of the years, the family reunion or the birth of children, with the prolonged migration experience, causes the initial 'plan' to undergo radical changes. In this plan of stabilization, there is an emphasis as well on the plans and aspirations that parents have for their children.”
Focusing on the attention to challenges and perspectives on the migrant family, Archbishop Marchetto explained how the migrants and, in particular their families, form a part of the daily life of the countries where they go. Therefore, the society and Christian communities are not only facing complex problems and difficulties, but also values and resources in this new social reality.” There is a need to develop relationships that favor the insertion in society and also are “opportunities for personal, social, and ecclesial growth for Christians, based on the observation of laws, the encounter of cultures, religions, and reciprocal respect of values based on human rights.” He also mentioned that “in this respect, International Law should seek to protect family unity and fight today's ever-growing phenomenon of de facto unions, due mainly to the difficulties involved in fulfilling requirements for a legal union and for the bureaucratic process linked to its concession.”
The families of the refugees are a particular category of migrants that should receive a warm welcome in the countries that receive them. “However, it is painful to see that understanding and sympathy for refugees diminishes,” Archbishop Marchetto said, and this shows that actions are carried out that make life more difficult for those in search of refuge. Many times, refugees are negatively depicted and seen as a threat or political calamity, without considering their values and potential in contributing to the country where they have arrived. The situation of people who have lost their home in their own country, is generally even more difficult because there is still no kind of obliging international legislation for them.”
The Archbishop then recalled that the trafficking of human beings continues to be another drama within the drama that continues to spread, and that in the Southern Hemisphere, there are 6 million refugees living in “camps” made for them over five years ago, many times lacking respect for their rights. The great majority of them, in such conditions, soon come to depend on food donations which are often insufficient. “Supporting a family in such conditions is difficult, obviously, with a great impact on its members and a negative influence on internal relationships. Mothers say that their children no longer respect them or listen to them. The children act in an independent manner, given that their parents are unable to provide for them, and thus they do not accept their authority. Moreover, what is even worse, is that the involvement of children and women in sexual exploitation seems to become a means of survival.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 16/1/2009)
