Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations
in Geneva, says migration should be seen as an opportunity not just for countries
but also for the Church, in terms of the new evangelisation. A former Secretary of
the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, Archbishop
Tomasi is also the Permanent Representative to the International Organization for
Migration which the Holy See joined last year as a full member state.
The Archbishop
spoke to Vatican Radio on the sidelines of a Rome conference entitled “Building Bridges
of Opportunity: Migration and Diversity” sponsored by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy
See and the Pontifical North American College.
“There are 250 million people
who live and work in a place other than where they were born,” explains Archbishop
Tomasi. “The Church looks at migration in a positive and constructive way. It does
not see only the immediate problems that emerge when a new community settles in a
country with different habits, different cultures, a (different) language that doesn’t
facilitate communication.”
“But, in the long run it is well documented that
migrations are a benefit for the migrants, for the countries of origin of the migrant
and above all, for the country of arrival where they contribute their work, their
intelligence, their talents and in the long run they become very productive citizens
of these new countries.”
In this interview with Archbishop Tomasi, Tracey McClure
asks him how migration can be seen as a positive force for the new evangelisation,
what challenges religion can pose to integration and more…