Lima (Fides Service) - Migration, now a global phenomenon, affects the whole world and involves millions of people. To face the pastoral challenges posed by human mobility, the Catholic Bishops of Peru have organised an international seminar for pastoral workers who care for Peruvians overseas. Participants at the meeting, 24-27 March at the Santa Rosa Retreat House in Lima, will have an opportunity to share their experiences and discuss ways to improve apostolate among Peruvian immigrants working in other countries of Latin America and elsewhere in the world. Among the objectives of the seminar: a network between the Church in Peru and pastoral agents caring for Peruvians working abroad; increase awareness and promote attention for pastoral care of migrants; form Human Mobility animation teams at the national level; inform on the cultural and religious and socio-political realities of Peru for improved commitment with Peruvian migrants.
Speakers at the seminar will be experts on migration. There will also be a round table discussion on 27 March with representatives of the chancellery, the General Direction of Migrations, the Court for Peoples Rights, the World Migration Organisation and the UN High Commission for Refugees. Work groups and testimony from different countries will help participants to outline a plan of action co-ordinated by pastoral bodies in Peru and those in receiving countries. This will make it possible to accompany in an integral manner the process of insertion at the pastoral, social, juridical, cultural and political levels, of Peruvians resident in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, United States, Italy, Panama, Venezuela, Japan RZ (Fides Service 25/3/2003 EM lines 25 Words: 271)