(October 21, 2008) The streets are home for some 50 million children in Latin America,
but they are also a privileged place for evangelization, says a Vatican official.
Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and
Travellers, spoke about human mobility as a "sign of the times" with some particular
pastoral consequences when he addressed the first continental meeting for the pastoral
care of those who live or work on the streets. The conference is under way in Colombia
and has gathered representatives of Latin America and the Caribbean. "The possibility
of travelling long distances in a short time, the capacity to get around freely and
frequently, in relative security, and to choose when and how to travel, are all characteristics
of a great revolution that has taken place in the last 150 years," Archbishop Marchetto
noted. "But streets and highways have also become a mirror for new poverties, such
as the immigration routes, prostitution and sexual exploitation, and the misery of
those who do not have a home." Nevertheless, the prelate said, "Sacred Scripture speaks
repeatedly of highways and roads, and often makes them into symbols of the human pilgrimage
toward God." And in Christ's life, he noted, they became a "place of evangelization
and encounter with the marginalized of society." The road therefore has a special
significance, the prelate contended, "given that it will continue to be a place of
proclamation, testimony, transformation and healing." It is also one of the places
where the Church shows her preferential love for the poor, Archbishop Marchetto continued.
"The Church's activity in favour of the poor all over the continent is important;
nevertheless, work must continue so that this line of pastoral activity is ever more
a path for the encounter with Christ." The Vatican official went on to mention certain
issues of particular concern for this area of pastoral care, including prostitution
and children who live on the street. He called for solutions "both governmental and
nongovernmental, which attack the roots of the problems, addressing the families as
well."