January 19, 2013: "The joys and hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of
that time, especially the poor and those who suffer, are the joys and hopes, the griefs
and anxieties of the followers of Christ, and nothing genuinely human fails to raise
an echo in their heart." These well-known words of the introduction of the Pastoral
Constitution Gaudium et Spes of Vatican II, sited Cardinal Antonio Maria Vegliò, President
of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People,
on Saturday. He was speaking about "The Church and Migrants" at round table conference
organized by the Centre for information and studies on international migration (CIEMI),
the National Service of Pastoral Care of Migrants (SNPM) and the Diocese of Paris.
Cardinal
Veglio, in his talk, highlighted three specific aspects of the encounter with Jesus
Christ in the context of migration, namely a path to conversion, to communion and
to solidarity. The first of these is the conversion which "must be understood as evangelism
and, better yet, as a re-evangelization of the modern world. The second, migration
exist today in a globalized world. The presence of a large number of people from various
cultures and religions, invites the Church to a profound conversion in his encounter
with Christ, so that it can truly become a sacrament of unity and communion among
the nations. The third, the path of solidarity. The encounter with the living Christ
who changes the life of man and brings salvation is a way to express solidarity among
peoples. Indeed, this solidarity is motivated by the Church's faith and trust in the
Lord and encourages humanity, not only to help migrants by individual acts of assistance,
but also to develop a culture of overall reception.
In this ecumenical council,
said the Cardinal, once again the presence of the Church has been confirmed alongside
humanity in its journey in this earthly life, in all human experiences every day.
Accordingly the Magisterium of the Church always promote integral human development,
which includes consideration of "millions of men and women who, for various reasons,
live the experience of migration."
Citing the World Migration Report 2011 of
the International Organization for Migration (IOM), he said that there are approximately
214 million international migrants - a number equal to about 3% of the world population.
The same report estimates that the number of internal migrants in 2010 amounted to
nearly 740 million people. So, if we add the two statistics, the result is an estimated
one billion people, or one seventh of the world population is affected in one form
or another by the reality of migration today.
This is a phenomenon in which
"the Church hears the suffering cry of those who are uprooted in their own land, divided
families by force, those in the rapidly changing modern world find nowhere to be stable." The
issue of immigration has become an important topic not only for Catholic institutions
in France, but also for those institutions in Europe and throughout the world. He
posed the question as to what led the Church to take a stand, to talk and to act on
migration. He answered saying ‘the encounter with the living Jesus Christ - the path
to conversion, communion and solidarity.