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In the Heart of the Church |
On Migration and
Ecumenism
"The Church Must Feel Concerned Regarding Immigrants"
Address given by Cardinal Renato Martino at the Annual
Meeting of European National
Directors for the Pastoral Care of
Migrants
Subiu, Romania
September 3-4, 2007
Recently, a book entitled “Globus. Per una teoria storico-universale
dello spazio” (Globus. Toward a historical-universal theory of
space), a translation from German, was published in Italy. In this
volume, the author, Franz Rosenzweig, makes a rapid but
well-studied, original and significant reconstruction of the whole
world history. The first part of the publication is entitled “Ecumene,”
seen from the point of view of relationships between earthly forces
that push toward the unification of the world.
“If millennia were needed for us to acquire theoretical awareness of
the spherical form of the earth,” the author affirms, “we cannot be
surprised by how slow world history walks toward unity of the globe.
Yet, God created only one sky and one earth. Ecumenism is the final
goal of humankind’s journey,” a sign of which is migration, indeed
an opportunity for the ecumene.
Today, in fact, migration is one of the most important and most
complex challenges of our modern world. Consequently, social
transformation, caused by welcoming immigrants, is discussed in
public hearings, such that the question of “migration” appears as
one of the top issues in the international agenda.
The migration phenomenon is therefore analyzed in relation to
development. Migrants’ contribution to the labor market is studied,
leading to the conclusion that they are important for world economy.
A witness to this is the First Global Forum on Migration and
Development, recently held in Brussels, last July 9-11.
In spite of this, however, many governments are adopting more
restrictive measures to counter immigration, especially if
irregular. Researchers on the migration phenomenon, on their part,
are for the opening of frontiers, not simply to solve contingent
problems, but to situate the process in a global scenario. Migration
has indeed become a structural phenomenon. This does not mean,
however, that a vision of a “total” and “indiscriminate” freedom to
immigrate is being adopted. It is rather the task of governments to
regulate the magnitude and the form of migration flows. They should,
however, take common good into consideration, so that immigrants
would be worthily welcomed, and the population of the receiving
countries would not be put in a condition that would lead them to
reject the newcomers. This would have unfavorable consequences both
for immigrants and the local population, as well as for relations
between peoples. Naturally national common good must be considered
in the context of universal common good. This brings us back to that
vision of the “ecumene” that I mentioned at the beginning of my
talk.
Our task, however, is that of identifying facts and aspects of
migration that would help us understand the value of the phenomenon
itself. This will enable us to interpret this “sign of the times”[1]
from a Christian perspective, and to offer our pastoral service to
the world of human mobility in its totality, in its universality.
And for you, this is true for Europe.
There has always been solicitude on the part of the Church for
migration -- we have to take note of this.[2] Involvement in various
forms confirms its ability to interpret this rapidly changing
reality. Active ecclesial commitment, especially at a pastoral
level, naturally includes socio-humanitarian action so that the
foreigner would be accepted and integrated in society, through an
itinerary leading to authentic communion, where there is due respect
for diversity. It is however necessary to remember that rights and
duties come together, also for migrants.
Regarding respect for the fundamental rights of the human person,
hence also of those who are involved in human mobility, the Church
is continuously dedicated to this at various levels and in different
areas. Specific initiatives, messages of the Holy Father, action to
build awareness among international entities and governments of
migrants’ countries of origin, transit and destination, define the
Church’s “strategy." This is based on the central position and
“sacredness” of the human person[3], to be upheld particularly when
he/she is unprotected or marginalized. This “brings to light certain
important theological and pastoral findings that have been acquired.
These are: […] the defense of the rights of migrants, both men and
women, and their children; [the question of the migrant family]; the
ecclesial and missionary dimension of migration; the reappraisal of
the apostolate of the laity; the value of cultures in the work of
evangelization; the protection and appreciation of minority groups
in the Church; the importance of dialogue both inside and outside
the Church; and the specific contribution of emigration to world
peace” (EMCC No. 27). In all this, we can clearly see a basis for an
ecumenical commitment.
Indeed the recent position of the Holy See regarding migration shows
that attention is given to the continuous transformation of the
phenomenon of human mobility and to the current exigencies of people
in contemporary society. This is because it wants “to respond to the
new spiritual and pastoral needs of migrants” bearing in mind “the
ecumenical aspect of the phenomenon, owing to the presence among
migrants of Christians not in full communion with the Catholic
Church, and also the interreligious aspect, owing to the increasing
number of migrants of other religions, in particular Muslims” (EMCC
No. 3)[4]. We cannot ignore the fact that “recent times have
witnessed a growing increase in the presence of immigrants of other
religions in traditionally Christian countries” (EMCC No. 59). The
great diversity of immigrants’ cultural and religious origin poses
new challenges and leads toward new goals, putting dialogue at the
heart of pastoral care in the world of migration. After all, it
certainly is part of the mission of the Church.
The instruction "Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi" carefully proposes
programs that are appropriate for the various phases in the life of
the migrant. It distinguishes “between assistance in a general sense
(a first, short-term welcome), true welcome in the full sense
(longer-term projects) and integration (an aim to be pursued
constantly over a long period and in the true sense of the word)”
(No. 42). In this case, it is important to give a sensible direction
to an issue of great significance. I am referring to the difficult
concept of integration, and its even more difficult application,
keeping in mind also its ecumenical and interreligious aspects,
particularly in societies hosting migrants. This concept is being
seriously analyzed. We refuse to see it as a process of
assimilation, but stress the aspect of cultural meeting and
legitimate exchange. We are practically insisting on a concept of
intercultural societies, meaning those that are capable of
interacting and producing mutual enrichment, going beyond
multiculturalism, that can be contented with a mere juxtaposition of
cultures[5].
This gradual itinerary -- as I was saying -- provides, first of all,
for “assistance or ‘first welcome’” (EMCC No. 43), but this is not
enough to express the authentic vocation to Christian agape, also
because it might be confused with philanthropy.
As a result, our instruction offers a wider horizon, providing for
“acts of welcome in its full sense, which aim at the progressive
integration and self-sufficiency of the immigrant” (ibid.). Here,
too, we cannot fail to consider the ecumenical and interreligious
dimensions.
In his Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees this year,
Benedict XVI stated that the Church, through its various
institutions and associations, “has opened centers where migrants
are listened to, houses where they are welcomed, offices for
services offered to persons and families, with other initiatives set
up to respond to the growing needs in this field”.[6]
Also through these services in the context of human mobility, the
Church offers its assistance to everyone, without distinction of
religion or nationality, respecting everyone’s inalienable dignity
as a human person, created in the image of God and redeemed by the
blood of Christ.
In assisting migrants, therefore, it is possible to deepen
ecumenical dialogue since contact with those among them who belong
to other Churches or ecclesial communities gives “new possibilities
of living ecumenical fraternity in practical day-to-day life and of
achieving greater reciprocal understanding between Churches and
ecclesial communities, something far from facile irenicism or
proselytism” (EMCC No. 56). In fact, when migrants arrive in a place
with a Catholic majority, the first meeting point should be
hospitality and solidarity, within the context of “an authentic
culture of welcome (cf. EEu 101 and 103) capable of accepting the
truly human values of the immigrants over and above any difficulties
caused by living together with persons who are different (cf. EEu
85, 112 and PaG 65)” (EMCC No. 39).
Therefore “the entire Church in the host country must feel concerned
and engaged regarding immigrants. This means that local Churches
must rethink pastoral care, programming it [ … appropriately for]
today’s new multicultural and plurireligious context. With the help
of social and pastoral workers, the local population should be made
aware of the complex problems of migration and the need to oppose
baseless suspicions and offensive prejudices against foreigners” (EMCC
No. 41).
However, ecumenical dialogue does not stop there. It could also take
the form of a specifically ecumenical cooperation, whereby resources
are pooled and a common Christian witness is given (cf. Directory
for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, No. 162).
Indeed the different Churches and ecclesial communities are
particularly intent on welcoming and accompanying all migrants, in
the pastoral sense, especially when alongside the flow of regular
migrants, there are irregular migrants who are a cause for concern
and are usually and unjustly blamed for crimes. Also, there are
unscrupulous evildoers, who speculate on the tragic situation of
people and promote the trafficking of human beings. Their presence
increases xenophobia and at times provokes manifestations of racism
(cf. EMCC nos. 29 e 41). All this can make the ecumenical commitment
in favor of migrants more difficult.
The Church is called upon to open a dialogue with everyone, but this
“dialogue should be conducted and implemented in the conviction that
the Church is the ordinary means of salvation and that she alone
possesses the fullness of the means of salvation” (EMCC 59). At the
same time, migrants of other religions “should be helped insofar as
possible to preserve a transcendent view of life” (ibid.).
There are surely some values in common between the Christian faith
and other beliefs, but it is necessary to take into consideration
the fact that “beside these points of agreement there are, however,
also divergences, some of which have to do with legitimate
acquisitions of modern life and thought” (EMCC No. 66). On the part
of the migrant, therefore, the first step to take toward the host
society is to respect the laws and the values on which that society
is founded, including religious ones. If this is not done, then
integration would just be an empty word.
The Church is also called to live fully its own identity, without
renouncing to give witness to its own faith, also in view of
respectfully proclaiming it (cf. EMCC No. 9). Thus, dialogue with
others “requires Catholic communities receiving immigrants to
appreciate their own identity even more, prove their loyalty to
Christ, know the contents of the faith well, rediscover their
missionary calling and thus commit themselves to bear witness for
Jesus the Lord and his gospel. This is the necessary prerequisite
for the correct attitude of sincere dialogue, open and respectful of
all but at the same time neither naïve nor ill-equipped” (EMCC No.
60).[7]
Finally, it is necessary to take into account the important
principle of reciprocity[8], “understood not merely as an attitude
for making claims but as a relationship based on mutual respect and
on justice in juridical and religious matters. Reciprocity is also
an attitude of heart and spirit that enables us to live together
everywhere with equal rights and duties. Healthy reciprocity will
urge each one to become an ‘advocate’ for the rights of minorities
when his or her own religious community is in the majority. In this
respect we should also recall the numerous Christian migrants in
lands where the majority of the population is not Christian and
where the right to religious freedom is severely restricted or
repressed” (EMCC No. 64).
It remains true, however, that solidarity, cooperation,
international interdependence and the equitable distribution of the
goods of the earth show the need to operate also in ecumenical
communion, or rather, with a vision of “ecumene” in the broad sense
of the term. This has to be done in depth and forcefully, especially
in the areas where migration flows originate, so that the
inequalities that induce people, individually or collectively, to
leave their own natural and cultural environment would be overcome
(cf. EMCC nos. 4; 8-9; 39-43). On its part, the Church will not stop
encouraging everyone, but particularly the members of Christian
communities, to be authentically available and open to others,
including migrants, as it affirms that “notwithstanding the repeated
failures of human projects, noble as they may have been, Christians,
roused by the phenomenon of mobility, [should] become aware of their
call to be always and repeatedly a sign of fraternity and communion
in the world, by respecting differences and practicing solidarity,
in their ethics of meeting others” (EMCC No. 102).
To conclude, we have to acknowledge that migration is a process in
constant evolution.
It will continue to be present in the
development of societies and will bring us more and more into an
intercultural world, where legitimate diversity will be lived also
in the context of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.
--- --- ---
[1] Cf. Benedict XVI, Message for the World Day of Migrants and
Refugees 2006: http://www.vaticaNo.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/migration/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_200510
18_world-migrants-day_eNo.html; A. Marchetto, "Le migrazioni: segno
dei tempi", in Pontificio Consiglio della Pastorale per i Migranti e
gli Itineranti (ed.), La sollecitudine della Chiesa verso i migranti,
(Quaderni Universitari, Comments to the First Part of Erga Migrantes
Caritas Christ -- henceforth EMCC), Libreria Editrice Vaticana,
Vatican City 2005, pp. 28-40.
[2] Pius XII’s prophetic intuition regarding the pastoral care of
migrants is present in the Apostolic Constitution Exsul Familia (AAS
XLIV [1952] 649-704), considered the magna carta of the Church’s
teaching on migration. Paul VI, in continuity with and as an
application of the teaching of the Second Ecumenical Vatican
Council, later issued the "motu proprio" Pastoralis migratorum cura
(AAS LXI [1969] 601-603), promulgating the Instruction of the
Congregation for Bishops De Pastorali migratorum cura (AAS LXI
[1969] 614-643). In 1978, the Pontifical Commission for the Pastoral
Care of Migration and Tourism published a Circular Letter addressed
to the Episcopal Conferences, entitled Church and Human Mobility (AAS
LXX [1978] 357-378): see EMCC nos. 19-33 and Pontificio Consiglio
della Pastorale per i Migranti e gli Itineranti (ed.), La
sollecitudine della Chiesa verso i migranti, op. cit. Cf. also A.
Marchetto, "Chiesa conciliare e pastorale di accoglienza": People on
the Move XXXVIII (102, 2006), pp. 131-145.
[3] See the Pontifical Message for the World Day of Peace 2007, "The
human person, the heart of peace": http://www.vaticaNo.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20061208_xl-world-day-peace_en.html.
[4] In 2004, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of
Migrants and Itinerant People published the Instruction Erga
migrantes caritas Christi: AAS XCVI (2004), 762-822 (see also People
on the Move XXXVI, 95, 2004, and website: www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/rc_pc_
migrants_doc_20040514_erga-migrantes-caritas-christi_eNo.html). Cf.
comments on this Instruction by highly competent authors in People
on the Move XXXVII (98, 2005), pp. 23-125, particularly on ecumenism
and interreligious dialogue: pp. 45-63.
[5] Issues related to this important chapter of the pastoral care of
human mobility were studied more in-depth and then published in
Pontificio Consiglio della Pastorale per i Migranti e gli Itineranti
(ed.), Migranti e pastorale d’accoglienza (Quaderni Universitari,
Comments to the Second Part of EMCC), Libreria Editrice Vaticana,
Vatican City 2006.
[6] Benedict XVI, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees
2007: http://www.vaticaNo.va/ holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20061208_xl-world-day-peace_en.html.
[7] Cf. Proceedings of the XVII Plenary Session of our Pontifical
Council, held from May 15 to 17, 2006, on the theme "Migration and
Itinerancy from and toward Islamic majority countries": People on
the Move XXXVIII (101 Suppl., 2006). Specifically regarding
interreligious dialogue, see pp. 187-224. Particularly important is
No. 11 of the conclusions and recommendations: "It was also deemed
vital to distinguish between what the receiving societies can and
cannot tolerate in Islamic culture, what can be respected or shared
with regard to followers of other religions (see EMCC 65 and 66),
and to have the possibility of giving indications in this regard
also to policymakers, toward a proper formulation of civil
legislation, with due respect for each one’s competence": ibid., p.
74.
[8] Also Benedict XVI mentioned this in his address to the
participants in the aforementioned XVII Plenary Session: loc. cit.,
p. 5.
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