Vatican takes part in migrant forum in Australia

The Vatican’s Council for Migrants and Itinerant People President Archbishop Antonio Vegliò, and under-secretary Fr Gabriele Bentoglio are in Australia from 2 to 14 May on the invitation of the late Bishop Joseph Grech (former Bishops Delegate for the Pastoral care of Migrants and Refugees).

Hosted by the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO), their visit is be the first of its kind and aims to encourage migrant chaplains and communities living and working in Australia.

Archbishop Vegliò is set to address the Plenary of the Australian Bishops at Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney on 11 May, and will meet with migrant chaplains and pastoral workers in various parts of the country.

The visit also takes place a few months before the bishops of Australia travel to Rome for their Ad Limina visit, where they will meet the Holy Father and the various departments of the Roman Curia.

Australia has a population of about 21 million inhabitants, of which about 5 million are migrant workers, 22,500 refugees and 2,350 asylum seekers.
In one of his keynote speeches, Archbishop Vegliò reflected on the right not to emigrate. He told the chaplains and immigrant care workers that this is a first area where they can get involved, because they know where migrants in Australia come from and why they come. “Prevention is worth much more than a cure”, he added noting that “Governments do not always realize or respond to this challenge”.

Archbishop Vegliò spoke of “responses to the situation” ranging from fighting poverty, to employment training, from education, to peace-building projects, in the struggle to stop violence”. However, the Archbishop also observed that there are times, and quite often in our days, when it becomes necessary to leave one’s homeland, because of wars persecution or violence, noting that this form of migration, too, is a human right.

The Church, he said “considers it an obligation of the more prosperous nations, “to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood” not only on the part of the government, “but from its own ranks first of all”.

The Archbishop also warned against the evils of irregular migration, the result of “severe immigration laws and restrictive immigration policies”, which leave people open to “considerable risk”, including “becoming victims of trafficking in human beings, exploited in prostitution, indentured labour, slave-like services or even the extraction of organs”.

“Even under these conditions, they conserve the dignity and rights rooted in their humanity”, concluded the Archbishop, urging wider Australian society to see migrant as an enriching opportunity for the intermingling of cultures, religions and beliefs.