Vatican official emphasizes foreign student ministry

(June 26, 2009) A Vatican official has stressed on the importance of reaching out to international students as a particular means of evangelization and global influence. Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant Workers made the point on Thursday in an address to a seminar in Rome for members of the U.S. Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. He analyzed the growing phenomenon of international education and foreigners who travel to other countries for study, saying they "are potentially some of the most authoritative ambassadors and persuasive marketers." He said the Church recognizes that positive experiences by students away from home, interacting with their host countries, produce fruit both spiritual and human. He cited recent studies that indicate that the total number of mobile tertiary education students worldwide reached some 2.7 million in 2005, nearly a 61% increase since 1999, and that total global demand for international student places will increase from about 2.1 million in 2003 to approximately 5.8 million by 2020. Archbishop Marchetto appealed to the university educators and leaders, particularly those in campus ministry, to realize the real opportunities, for those who come to their shores for study, for the future of their own home countries, and for the enrichment of the host land.