At 12:15pm today, in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the National Directors of Pastoral Care for Migrants, who are participating in a Meeting organized by the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) which is taking place in Rome at the Bonus Pastor from 21 to 23 September 2017.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome you with joy on the occasion of your meeting and I thank your Cardinal President for the words he has offered in the name of all. I wish to thank you with all my heart for the profuse commitment during these recent years in favour of many brothers and sisters who are migrants and refugees and who have knocked at the doors of Europe in search of a more secure place to live with dignity.
Faced with the massive, complex and varied migrations which have put into crisis the various migration policies which have been adopted so far and the instruments of protection enshrined in international conventions, the Church intends to remain faithful to its mission: to love Jesus Christ, to adore him and to love him, particularly in the poor and those who have been abandoned; which certainly includes migrants and refugees (Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2015).
The maternal love of the Church for these our brothers and sisters requires us to demonstrate concretely in every phase of the migratory experience, from the moment of departure, along the journey, to the moment of arrival and return, so that all local ecclesial realities situated along the way may be protagonists of the one mission, each according to its own capability. Recognizing and serving the Lord in these journeying people is a responsibility that unites all particular Churches in drawing from a continual, coordinated and efficient commitment.
Dear brothers and sisters, I do not wish to hide from you my concern in the face of the signs of intolerance, discrimination and xenophobia that are found in different regions of Europe. They are often motivated by diffidence and fear of the other, of those who are different, of the foreigner. I’m even more concerned by the sad verification that our Catholic communities in Europe are not exempt from these reactions of defence and rejection, justified by a no better specified moral duty of preserving the original cultural and religious identity. The Church has spread across all the continents thanks to the migration of missionaries, who were convinced of the universality of Jesus Christ’s message of salvation, destined to the men and women of every culture. Temptations to exclusivity and cultural entrenchment have not been lacking in the history of the Church, but the Holy Spirit has always helped us to overcome them, guaranteeing a constant openness to the other, considered as a concrete possibility of growth and enrichment.
I’m sure that the Spirit helps us also today to maintain an attitude of trusting openness, which enables us to overcome every barrier, to climb over every wall.
In my constant listening to the particular Churches in Europe, I’ve perceived a profound discomfort in the face of the massive arrival of migrants and refugees. This discomfort is recognized and understood in the light of an historical moment marked by the economic crisis, which has left profound wounds. Moreover, this discomfort was aggravated by the rate and composition of migratory flows, by a substantial unpreparedness of the host society and by often inadequate national and communal policies. However, the discomfort is also indicative of the limitations of the European processes of unification, of the obstacles that the concrete implementation of the universality of human rights must face, of the walls against which integral humanism, which constitutes one of the most beautiful fruits of European civilization crashes. And for Christians all this is interpreted, in addition to secular immanentism, in the logic of the centrality of the human person created by God, unique and unrepeatable.
From an exquisitely ecclesiological perspective, the arrival of so many brothers and sisters in the faith offers the Churches in Europe one more opportunity to fully realize their catholicity, a constitutive element of the Church which we confess every Sunday in the Creed. Moreover, in recent years, many particular Churches in Europe have been enriched by the presence of Catholic migrants, who have brought with them their devotions and their liturgical and apostolic enthusiasm.
From a missiological perspective, the contemporary migratory flows constitute a new missionary frontier, a privileged occasion to proclaim Jesus Christ and His Gospel without moving from one’s environment to witness concretely the Christian faith in charity and in profound respect for other religious expressions. The encounter with migrants and refugees of other Confessions and religions is a fecund ground for the development of a sincere and enriching ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue.
In my Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees of next year, I have highlighted how the pastoral response to the contemporary migratory challenges should be articulated around four verbs: receive, protect, promote, and integrate. The verb receive is then translated into other verbs, such as extending the legal and safe ways of entry, offering first an appropriate and decorous systematization and assuring all personal security and access to basic services. The verb protect is specified in offering certain and certified information before the departure, in defence of the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees regardless of their migratory status and in watching over the most vulnerable who are the boys and girls. To promote means essentially to guarantee the conditions for the integral human development of all, migrants and natives. The verb integrate is translated into opening areas of inter-cultural encounter, fostering mutual enrichment and promoting a course of active citizenship.
In the same Message, I referred to the importance of Global Pacts, which States are committed to draw up by the end of 2018. The Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development has prepared 20 points of action that the local Churches are invited to use, complete and deepen in their pastoral care: these points are based on the good practices that characterize the tangible answer of the Church to needy migrants and refugees. The same points are useful for the dialogue that the different ecclesial institutions can have with the respective governments in view of the Global Pacts. I invite you, dear Directors, to know these points and to promote them in your Episcopal Conferences.
The same points of action also make up an articulated paradigm of the four verbs mentioned above, a paradigm that could serve as a yardstick of study or of verification of the existing pastoral practices in the local Churches, in view of an ever opportune and enriching updating. May communion in reflection and action be your strength, because when one is alone, the obstacles seem much greater. May your voice be always timely and prophetic and, above all, may it be preceded by coherent action inspired in the principles of the Christian Doctrine.
Renewing to you my thanks for your great commitment in the field of such a complex migratory pastoral commitment as well as its burning timeliness, I assure you of my prayer. And you also, please, don’t forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting with National Directors
of Pastoral Care for Migrants
Dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome you with joy on the occasion of your meeting and I thank your Cardinal President for the words he has offered in the name of all. I wish to thank you with all my heart for the profuse commitment during these recent years in favour of many brothers and sisters who are migrants and refugees and who have knocked at the doors of Europe in search of a more secure place to live with dignity.
Faced with the massive, complex and varied migrations which have put into crisis the various migration policies which have been adopted so far and the instruments of protection enshrined in international conventions, the Church intends to remain faithful to its mission: to love Jesus Christ, to adore him and to love him, particularly in the poor and those who have been abandoned; which certainly includes migrants and refugees (Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2015).
The maternal love of the Church for these our brothers and sisters requires us to demonstrate concretely in every phase of the migratory experience, from the moment of departure, along the journey, to the moment of arrival and return, so that all local ecclesial realities situated along the way may be protagonists of the one mission, each according to its own capability. Recognizing and serving the Lord in these journeying people is a responsibility that unites all particular Churches in drawing from a continual, coordinated and efficient commitment.
Dear brothers and sisters, I do not wish to hide from you my concern in the face of the signs of intolerance, discrimination and xenophobia that are found in different regions of Europe. They are often motivated by diffidence and fear of the other, of those who are different, of the foreigner. I’m even more concerned by the sad verification that our Catholic communities in Europe are not exempt from these reactions of defence and rejection, justified by a no better specified moral duty of preserving the original cultural and religious identity. The Church has spread across all the continents thanks to the migration of missionaries, who were convinced of the universality of Jesus Christ’s message of salvation, destined to the men and women of every culture. Temptations to exclusivity and cultural entrenchment have not been lacking in the history of the Church, but the Holy Spirit has always helped us to overcome them, guaranteeing a constant openness to the other, considered as a concrete possibility of growth and enrichment.
I’m sure that the Spirit helps us also today to maintain an attitude of trusting openness, which enables us to overcome every barrier, to climb over every wall.
In my constant listening to the particular Churches in Europe, I’ve perceived a profound discomfort in the face of the massive arrival of migrants and refugees. This discomfort is recognized and understood in the light of an historical moment marked by the economic crisis, which has left profound wounds. Moreover, this discomfort was aggravated by the rate and composition of migratory flows, by a substantial unpreparedness of the host society and by often inadequate national and communal policies. However, the discomfort is also indicative of the limitations of the European processes of unification, of the obstacles that the concrete implementation of the universality of human rights must face, of the walls against which integral humanism, which constitutes one of the most beautiful fruits of European civilization crashes. And for Christians all this is interpreted, in addition to secular immanentism, in the logic of the centrality of the human person created by God, unique and unrepeatable.
From an exquisitely ecclesiological perspective, the arrival of so many brothers and sisters in the faith offers the Churches in Europe one more opportunity to fully realize their catholicity, a constitutive element of the Church which we confess every Sunday in the Creed. Moreover, in recent years, many particular Churches in Europe have been enriched by the presence of Catholic migrants, who have brought with them their devotions and their liturgical and apostolic enthusiasm.
From a missiological perspective, the contemporary migratory flows constitute a new missionary frontier, a privileged occasion to proclaim Jesus Christ and His Gospel without moving from one’s environment to witness concretely the Christian faith in charity and in profound respect for other religious expressions. The encounter with migrants and refugees of other Confessions and religions is a fecund ground for the development of a sincere and enriching ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue.
In my Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees of next year, I have highlighted how the pastoral response to the contemporary migratory challenges should be articulated around four verbs: receive, protect, promote, and integrate. The verb receive is then translated into other verbs, such as extending the legal and safe ways of entry, offering first an appropriate and decorous systematization and assuring all personal security and access to basic services. The verb protect is specified in offering certain and certified information before the departure, in defence of the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees regardless of their migratory status and in watching over the most vulnerable who are the boys and girls. To promote means essentially to guarantee the conditions for the integral human development of all, migrants and natives. The verb integrate is translated into opening areas of inter-cultural encounter, fostering mutual enrichment and promoting a course of active citizenship.
In the same Message, I referred to the importance of Global Pacts, which States are committed to draw up by the end of 2018. The Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development has prepared 20 points of action that the local Churches are invited to use, complete and deepen in their pastoral care: these points are based on the good practices that characterize the tangible answer of the Church to needy migrants and refugees. The same points are useful for the dialogue that the different ecclesial institutions can have with the respective governments in view of the Global Pacts. I invite you, dear Directors, to know these points and to promote them in your Episcopal Conferences.
The same points of action also make up an articulated paradigm of the four verbs mentioned above, a paradigm that could serve as a yardstick of study or of verification of the existing pastoral practices in the local Churches, in view of an ever opportune and enriching updating. May communion in reflection and action be your strength, because when one is alone, the obstacles seem much greater. May your voice be always timely and prophetic and, above all, may it be preceded by coherent action inspired in the principles of the Christian Doctrine.
Renewing to you my thanks for your great commitment in the field of such a complex migratory pastoral commitment as well as its burning timeliness, I assure you of my prayer. And you also, please, don’t forget to pray for me. Thank you.
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