Rediscovering
the Gift of Hospitality
Meeting
of bishops and delegates responsible for the pastoral care of migrants of the
Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Europe
Madrid, Spain, 26-27 September 2016
If it is true
that people know more and more about the tragedy of thousands of migrants who
every day try the challenge of reaching Europe by crossing the Mediterranean
Sea on dilapidated boats and the desert in long marches of death, less known
are the stories of generosity, sharing, and genuine reception that accompany
the migration flow of recent times. After the urgency of their reception, the
Catholic Church is in the front line in emergency related to the integration of
thousands of migrants. In Madrid, the bishops and delegates responsible for the
pastoral care of migrants in Europe have been discussing on 'models' of
integration, best practices, and challenges to European society.
After dealing
with the issue of reception in 2015, the national directors for the pastoral
care of migrants have focused - in the Year of Mercy - on the challenge of
integration. The meeting took place in Madrid on September 26-27 at the
invitation of the Bishop of Albacete, Mgr. Ciriaco Benavente Mateos, President
of the Commission for Migration of the Spanish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
The
integration of migrants and refugees is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon
for which no single model applies, but different experiences related to the
needs and possibilities of the receiving territory. The Catholic Church, as
participants witnessed, is engaged in all countries with various activities and
programs. However, both reception and integration are not prerogatives of a
particular sector of civil society and/or Church institutions, but of the whole
society because it is the whole person, in his/her wholeness - that is, the
person in need of a job and a house, but also of the love of a family and a
spiritual support – who needs to be welcomed. Neither is it an issue which concerns
only individual migrants or asylum seekers but it runs on a parallel track that
also involves the responsibility and capacity of the receiving community, which
is called to make room for diversity.
In her
approach, the Church always seeks to promote this two-fold dimension by
carrying out a work that takes into account both the needs of immigrants, in
their integrity and dignity as persons, and those of the receiving community.
Before becoming physical realities, walls rise within human hearts. Ignorance
and fear are in fact the first obstacles to overcome. People must be able to
understand what it means to be a refugee, what it means to have one's life
contained in a simple backpack. It is clear therefore that the real challenge
of integration begins with an educational work addressing the whole society. It
is necessary to educate people to dialogue and encounter. In fact, the
encounter with those who are different than us, if we approach it with the
proper disposition, is always enriching and follows the pattern of the sharing
of gifts.
This
accompaniment of the receiving communities must be carried out in agreement by
all the social and Church bodies working on their territory. Only an education
to encounter and dialogue will make it possible to uproot unjustified fears,
often based on stereotypes and clichés, which are increasingly feeding
xenophobic feelings in Europe.
Among the
various experiences shared by the participants, the privileged
educational-pastoral tool in promoting real integration seemed to be the
"working together" style. It is by carrying out together concrete
actions and activities that the migrant and the receiving community can be
perceived as only one thing. In the spirit of the Year of Mercy, the national
directors have also recalled the need to rediscover the meaning and the value
of hospitality that helps Christians to better respond to the challenge of
integration. In this perspective, the parish is undoubtedly a privileged space
in which a true pedagogy of encounter and dialogue can be enacted. In various
ways, the parish community can become a place to put into practice our
hospitality, a place to perform the exchange of experiences and gifts, the
breeding ground for peaceful coexistence that we all desire.
In Madrid, the
national directors also discussed some issues which had already been the object
of their discussions in the past and are still topical, such as the trafficking
in human beings (the work of the Santa Marta Group), the presence of Chinese
immigrants in Europe, and the evangelization of Chinese Catholics in Europe.
In the
"Holy Mary of Silence" Parish along with a delegation from the local
diocese for the pastoral care of migrants, the participants lived a Eucharistic
celebration animated by an African choir and presided over by the Archbishop of
Madrid, H. Ex. Mgr. Carlos Osoro Sierra. Later on, at the Reception Centre 'San
Ignacio' run by the Jesuits they met a large group of young Africans, and they
had the opportunity to appreciate the various initiatives undertaken by the
Centre for promoting integration, particularly through work and education.
The
Conference closed with a meeting with the President of the Spanish Bishops'
Conference, Cardinal Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, at the headquarters of the Catholic
Bishops' Conference in Madrid, and a meeting in Toledo – a town which is
particularly committed to working with migrants - with the local archbishop,
Mgr. Braulio Rodríguez Plaza.
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