Intervention of Mons. Antonio Maria VEGLIÒ, Titular Archbishop of Eclano, President of the Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (VATICAN CITY), “IN SCRIPTIS”

In recent decades, Christians, and especially young people in many countries of the Middle East, have left their homeland in droves. It is under the eyes of all, as a result, that Christians in the Middle East are in great difficulty, they are few in number and are often powerless and resigned.
In this important meeting, feelings of spiritual closeness, support and encouragement for Christians in the Middle East spontaneously emerge, also recalling the ultimate sacrifice that Mons Faraj Raho, Mons Luigi Padovese, Don Andrea Santoro and other priests and many men and women, well-known and admired by by Christian communities, offered to the world .
There are also positive aspects in the phenomenon of migration as it had increased the number of Catholics in the region who pour into to certain areas of the Middle East, so much so that there are many Christian communities composed almost exclusively of immigrants, always more in greater contact with people of other religions, especially Muslims.
In this scenario, it is decisive to urge for a political commitment at a global level that addresses the causes of this hemorrhaging of men and women that empties the Churches of the Middle East and the places where Christianity was born and developed. It would be terrible if the Holy Land and its neighbors, the cradle of Christianity and home of the Prince of Peace, were to become a museum of stone, a beloved memory of past times! Equally indispensable and is a cultural commitment, that is, formation with respect to the centrality and dignity of every human person, the opposition to xenophobia, sometimes encouraged by the media, and support in integration that safeguards people’s identity..
While I view the emerging social problems with concern, I also notice the risk that the individual Eastern Catholic Churches should fold back on themselves. Christians Communities of the Middle East should be encouraged towards a better mutual understanding, which helps them to respect and appreciate each other more, to cooperate and work together in order to carry more weight.
This meeting will certainly show solidarity and support for Christians in the Middle East, so that they will feel encouraged to remain in their countries, in order to carry out their mission as “leaven”, through the life and witness of communion and , where possible, also with the explicit proclamation of Jesus Christ the only Lord and Savior.
Finally, in confidence: I am very happy with this Synod, which will help you Eastern Churches get to know each other better along with the Latin Church. And if know each other, we will love and help each other more.

[00193-02.06] [IS002] [Original text: Italian]