VATICAN - “Tourism at the service of the meeting of peoples”: 6th Congress on Pastoral of Tourism

Vatican City (Fides Service) - The 6th International Congress on Pastoral of Tourism organised by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples will be held 5 to 8 July 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The theme of the congress is “Tourism at the Service of Meeting of Peoples”, and its aim is to promote reflection on “tourism as seen from the point of view of host countries especially the less developed ones”, said Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, Secretary of the Council when he presented the Congress.
“At a meeting, acceptance must be reciprocal. The effort to welcome the visitor must be met with the visitor’s effort to accept his host, and his customs, culture and identity. Only in this way meeting, produced by tourism, can be constructive and become a concrete force for peace and co-existence among peoples”.
The speakers at the conference will give an overall view of the present situation of international tourism, illustrating also the theological aspects which are the basis for Pastoral of Tourism, taking the specific theme of the Congress into account.
Most of the interventions will be testimony concerning more than 15 different countries, all over the world with regard of Pastoral of Tourism. The Congress will also include a round table discussion on a specific topic: “Sex tourism and initiatives to stop it”, with the presence of persons directly involved in fighting to eliminate this ‘humiliating aberration’ as it is called by the Holy Father. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 25/6/2004 lines 24 words 247)