| MIGRATION: 'OPPORTUNITY' FOR ECUMANISM AND CARE
Gathered in the Palazzo San Calisto in Vatican City for the 16th Plenary
Meeting of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and
Itinerant People, held from 16-19 May 2004, the members and consultors of
the Dicastery reflected on ecumenical, interreligious and intercultural
dialogue in the world of human mobility. Specifically this included
sharing experiences in ongoing dialogue in the sectors of migrants,
refugees, nomads, tourism, pilgrimages, Apostleship of the Sea,
Apostleship of the Road and civil aviation.
In the midst of the deliberations the participants were encouraged by
our Holy Father, who invited them to assume a pastoral attitude of
dialogue in view of a new global harmony. This dialogue "brings about a
profound change of mentality as well as of pastoral structures", the Pope
said, "for which all that pastors invest in its spiritual and cultural
formation, also through intercultural meetings and discussions, goes in
the direction of the future and constitutes an element of the new
evangelization" (L'Osservatore Romano English Edition, 26 May 2004,
p. 5).
The meeting with the Holy Father, the well-prepared talks and the
thoughtful reflections about past experiences and future perspectives have
contributed to a better understanding of the breadth, extent and
consequences of this dialogue. They have also convinced all of its
necessity and urgency so that human mobility in its diverse dimensions may
also be a force for peace and harmony among nations and civilizations.
Pastoral and missionary dialogue
1. Thus, the vision of pastoral and missionary dialogue, a virtually
new reality in the context of human mobility, which is necessary to
promote especially in local Churches, with an ecumenical dimension when
possible, includes:
forming conscience in the conviction that the love of Christ urges us (Erga
Migrantes Caritas Christi, n. 1) to reach out to the other, the
stranger, in love, respect and welcome, without distinction of religion or
nationality, affirming in the brother or sister in need Christ himself who
comes to us (EMCC, nn. 15, 40);
giving of one's entire self to another, which is grounded in prayer and
radiates from it and not merely from an exercise in cognition (EMCC,
n. 88);
creating the conviction that though we are different from adherents of
other religions, God is greater than our differences, that the semina
Verbi (seeds of the Word) are to be sought in other religious
communities, and that all believers in God can together give witness that
the greatest of all is love;
entering more deeply into the concepts of truth and dialogue or identity
and relation with the other in the light of the newness of Christian
revelation and of the Magisterium of the Church;
recognizing our Christian faith as the supreme cultural act that
dignifies our human being as person (EMCC, n. 36);
looking for good and positive aspects, many times linked with culture,
that religions offer, thus breaking down barriers of fear and finding new
ways for religions to interact despite past and present negative
experiences;
recognizing cultural, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue as the
method necessary to measure the reciprocal openness and willingness to put
oneself to the test in the process of constructing a human civilization
for the universal common good;
being aware that cultural differences, while neither minor issues nor
major obstacles, depend largely on the attitudes people take regarding
them as they strive for legitimate communion;
acknowledging that dialogue is difficult, requiring perseverance and
discernment of what is tolerable and what is not in other cultures and
religions;
respecting the culture and personal situation of people and individuals
and avoiding proselytism, without forgetting the duty of evangelizing
implicitly or explicitly (EMCC, n. 69);
making the due distinction between dialogue and dialectic and thus
avoiding reduction of cultural and religious differences to false
syntheses, practically accepting indifferentism or relativism;
recognizing and affirming differences in the common search for the
truth, thus dialoguing to make people better persons and also deepening
the intercultural aspect of dialogue;
dialoguing as a step towards proclamation of the truth, always
respecting the confession, religion, culture and situation of the person
as well as freedom of conscience;
recognizing the importance of the Church's preferential option for the
poor and thus being especially at their service in pastoral care and
dialoguing mission (EMCC, n. 41).
Dialogue in the world
2. Since dialogue in the world of human mobility needs to be pursued,
the following points are worthy of particular attention and action at the
level of local Churches:
the role of prayer and trust in the Lord's power in dialogue; in other
words, presenting the vision of faith and praying so that people may
recognize the message of Jesus Christ;
the development of listening skills and trusting attitudes in openness
to and sincerity of the other, accepting, appreciating and even loving
people who are different;
the importance of training for dialogue in the formation programmes of
seminarians, Religious and pastoral workers (EMCC, n. 69);
the catechesis not only of children of migrants but also of their
families and the communities where they live, likewise giving special
attention to women who very often are exploited;
the pastoral care of people on the move in their vocation to holiness
and their mission to witness the love and truth of Christ by deed and word
in the new cultural and religious situation where they live;
the formation of people on the move for testifying to Christ in their
lives and respectfully explaining the reasons for their hope and love to
all who ask;
a pastoral approach to culture based on listening, dialogue and support
so that parishes too can respond to new cultural demands;
a pastoral approach that is also able to transform parishes into special
training grounds for hospitality and "safe places" where issues of
identity, culture, belonging and trust can be worked out through dialogue,
thus enabling people on the move to establish their links with the world
around them;
a spirituality to sustain those who experience the difficulties that
personal identity and cultural and religious pluralism bring;
the mass media in missionary dialogue, particularly through radio and
production of local programmes, to enter more deeply into cultures where
the spoken word counts very much, not forgetting appropriate approaches
where the Internet is an important instrument for communication;
the dialoguing mission of the Church through the particular contribution
of men and women religious and members of secular institutes.
Situations of refugees
3. More specifically the dramatic situation of refugees was considered,
in which dialogue takes on new dimensions in view of the following
challenges;
refugee populations now consisting of significant numbers of Muslims;
the unfinished task of proposing pastoral plans for working at an
interreligious level, respecting differences, while not putting all
cultures at the same level or ignoring both areas of agreement and of
disagreement;
the need of a dialogic method to help refugees understand Christian
values and the notion of integral human development, equality of man and
women (EMCC, n. 66);
the tendency of Muslims to stress the One and single issues and that of
Christians, immersed in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, to put more
emphasis on plurality.
Churches, Ecclesial Communities
4. In any case it should not be forgotten as was recalled in the
broader discussion that migration in general is an "opportunity" for
ecumenism as well as an "opportunity" for the pastoral care of human
mobility. It is the responsibility of Churches and Ecclesial Communities,
faithful to Christ the Migrant, to take advantage of such opportunities.
For the rest, the Holy Father pointed out that "the ever more numerous
presence of Christian immigrants not in full communion with the Catholic
Church also offers to particular Churches new possibilities for fraternity
and ecumenical dialogue, by urging the realization of greater reciprocal
understanding... far from facile irenicism and proselytism" (John Paul II,
ibid.).
Questions
5. During this 16th Plenary Assembly the Pontifical Council submitted
to its members and consultors the following questions, among others:
the fixed date for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (EMCC,
n. 72);
the position of sectors in the commissions of episcopal conferences and
in the regional and continental episcopal organizations;
the new Instruction Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi and the World
Congress for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees;
collaboration with the regional and continental associations of
episcopal conferences (EMCC, art. 22 §§2, 4);
collaboration with religious congregations (meetings with superiors
general);
discussions about the modalities of the ad limina visits.
From the exchange of opinions on the issues there emerged perspectives
and directions that will be kept in mind for the future engagements of the
Dicastery.
Dialogue: the indispensable way
6. The 16th Plenary Meeting furthermore encouraged the same Pontifical
Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People to make its
contribution to cultural, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue in
concerted action in the Roman Curia, in relation with religious
congregations, and not forgetting organizations like the International
Catholic Migration Commission (EMCC, n. 33), in the context of
associations of the faithful and ecclesial movements (EMCC, n. 86).
As the living human being, according to St Iranaeus, is the glory of
God, the Plenary Meeting reaffirms the conviction that dialogue is the
indispensable way for assuring that every person becomes truly alive in
the search for the truth about God, himself and the world (EMCC, n.
30).
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