VATICAN - “How to announce Christ to European tourists, to visitors to Europe, to those in any way connected with the world of Tourism?” -Meeting for European National Directors for Pastoral Care of Tourists

Monday, 6 November 2006

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "Tourism, Transversal Reality: Pastoral Aspects” is the theme of a Meeting for European National Directors for Pastoral Care of Tourists organised by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, which opened this morning, November 6, at the Council’s offices. In his opening address the Council President Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino said: “Speaking of ‘pastoral aspects’ we refer to the very mission of the Church to announce Jesus Christ, who died and rose from the dead for our Salvation - in the realities and complexities of the present day of God in which we live… new missionary impulse is also expressed in creativity revealed in responses to the new ever more numerous challenges posed by tourism. Certainly it is important to consider progress made by different local Churches in Europe, transversally, and to strive to offer Gospel inspired approach to the “modern day forum” of Tourism. It will also be interesting to see how the various offices of the Roman Curia enrich our experience and this approach. Your contributions will enhance the capacity to listen to other ecclesial challenges consequently building closer relations between the different realities present within the Church. To better understand the importance of our Meeting I would recall that 3 out of 5 of the world’s countries which receive the highest number of tourists are on the ‘old continent’.”
Cardinal Martino continued “Europeans of today must affirm their Christian roots and heritage renewing them in the light of Vatican II. They must also discuss how to continue to animate, in the future, new evangelisation, a new civilisation of love and respect. From this point of view tourism is certainly a suitable means for giving impulse to these values. In fact many of the continent’s monuments and works of art speak of a Christian Europe which despite everything is impregnated with the Gospel, and not only with the Gospel, of course. We are aware that “European culture” is based - so to say - on three pillars, Greek philosophy, Roman law and faith in Christ. How then can to announce Christ today to European tourists, to visitors to Europe, to those who work hard to allow others to enjoy leisure time and holidays, to all in any way connected with tourism?”. These questions we will try to answer in these two days of discussion and experience sharing .
Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, the first speaker, began by underlining that “a new reality like present day tourism demands ‘new evangelisation, new in ardour, methods and expression’… Evangelisation must therefore be ardent because also in the world of tourism there exists secularising or atheistic realities and also indifference”. Mgr. Marchetto, speaking on the theme of the meeting - “"Tourism, Transversal Reality: Pastoral Aspects” - said “transversal themes have a particular specificity: we are in fact dealing with a complex matter involving various areas of evangelisation and presenting in our case a series of important questions to be treated in their totality”. Tourism is an important aspect of human mobility, with a considerable rate of growth. At the world level Tourism employs over 200 million people.
Mgr Marchetto mentioned previous Meetings on the same theme, in particular the World Congress in Bangkok in 2004, the ensuing recommendations and he said: “In these two days we will strive to identify ways in which the Church can enhance her presence in the world of tourism, in its transversality, suggest directions to follow, taking into consideration the different countries in the context of Europe. In this overall vision what I would like to underline precisely because of tourism’s transversal aspect, is that all those in any way responsible in public administration, in private initiative, companies, hotels, tour operators… must intensify and structure collaboration, and also with us”. The Archbishop ended his talk reaffirming the necessity of formation for both pastoral workers and the faithful and he said: “If we insist that Tourism is a channel for dialogue, promotion of peace, development, knowledge of the memory of different peoples, spiritual growth, to achieve this we need persons able to translate this conviction into reality. May we also be operators of a new sort of tourism with a soul”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 6/11/2006, righe 54, parole 793)


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