“We mustn’t delude ourselves: immigration is increasing; not only do immigrants need and are seeking a better life, but we too need them to be able to maintain our way of life”. That’s how the Most Rev. Bernardo Álvarez Alfonso, bishop of Tenerife, in the Canary Isles, comments on the recent wave of disembarkations of immigrants in the islands. In one week alone some 2,500 arrived without documents; together with those that had arrived in previous days, they bring the number of new arrivals to 5,461. The majority of them landed on the islands of El Hierro and Grand Canary. According to the bishop, whose diocese, comprising four large islands, is the one most affected in Spain by the arrival of the “cayucos” – the small boats in which the clandestine immigrants arrive – “it’s time to think of the acceptance and integration of these people as citizens with full rights, in the normal development of our society”. It’s here that “the Church is called to play a leading role, because catholicity means being open to everyone and being able to accept everyone”. A similar position has been expressed by the Most Rev. José Sanchez Gonzalez, bishop of Sigüenza-Guadalajara, who in response to a question posed by Xavier Pomés, councillor of health and internal affairs within the government of Catalonia, about where the Spanish Bishops’ Conference stood on the matter, declared: “It’s better to ask where the Church is… she’s in the Canaries, as in Ceuta and Melilla, in Cadiz and in Malaga…”. “The Church is everywhere”, writes the bishop, recalling her strong pastoral commitment to the assistance of immigrants. Nonetheless, he points out, “it would be invidious to expect from the Church solutions to the dreadful problem of the economic imbalances that are the prime cause of uncontrolled migration. Nor does the Church have any control over the criminal rackets that live from the sordid trafficking of human beings”. According to the bishop, “it would also be a mistake to attribute to her responsibility for the laws on immigration” which “leave much to be desired and have their share of blame for the disasters linked to the influx of immigrants”. Meanwhile, the Spanish government has acted to stem the influx of immigrants without documents, of whom there are thought to be over 20,000 throughout the country since the start of the year, double the number registered in 2005.
