Vatican says tourism must be evangelized

(Nov.23, 2011) “The Church today cannot waste the opportunity that the world of tourism and leisure offers facilitating encounters between different cultures,” said Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, President of Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. The prelate said this when he inaugurated Italy’s National day of Tourism in Venice on Wednesday on the theme “Tourism and culture - crossroads of people.” Archbishop Veglio said recent decades have produced a democratization of tourism, since this type of move is within the reach of many, as more than 900 million people travel worldwide annually. He stressed we must ensure that people not only accept the existence of other cultures but also desire to be enriched, accepting what is good, true and beautiful.
Noting that travel holds great potential for evangelization, Archbishop Veglio said the ministry of tourism should be to educate and prepare Christians during their travels for the meeting of cultures. “Travel should not be a missed opportunity but serve for personal enrichment” he stressed. The prelate pointed out that Christian works of art and history have an enormous potential for evangelism and should not be underestimated. We must put our heritage at the service of evangelization, he said. The manner in which tourism promotes the proper meeting of cultures, the Church will contribute to build a new society, in which different languages and cultures, no longer constitute inviolable boundaries but in its diversity, help to realize a new way of communication and communion, said Archbishop Veglio.
Italy’s National Tourism Day,mainly sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and the Office for the Pastoral Care of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Patriarchate of Venice, was held on the occasion of World Tourism Day 2011, which is celebrated annually on September 27.