“A society that does not tolerate dissidents, even when they embody important values for the well-being of this society itself, gives proof not of strength but of weakness”, declare the Dutch bishops in their most recent pastoral letter, published on 3 June, an updated version of a previous letter on the same subject, adapted to the changed contemporary situation. The pastoral letter “I was a stranger: pastoral letter on migrants and refuges”, had first been published in 1998. “The multicultural and multi-religious society that has emerged in our country makes unprecedented demands of us all”, write the bishops, “and with this updated letter we wish to contribute to the public debate on these problems”. “We have very close at heart the situation of migrants,” writes Bishop Muskens of Breda, representative for interfaith dialogue within the Dutch Bishops’ Conference, in his foreword. The aims of the letter are threefold: the first is the recognition of the disturbing fact that European society is more inclined mentally and structurally to close its eyes to the needs of foreigners than to seek their well-being; the second is the wish to make a contribution to the best possible society of native Dutch and of new permanent immigrants. The third objective expressed by the letter is that Catholic immigrants be made to feel at home in the church community and be able to contribute their own experiences to it. The present situation “asks all of us”, conclude the bishops, “to maintain a society in which contrasts and different ideas co-exist as perhaps never before.”
