Their faces

While Gordon Brown’s government is making foreigners’ entry into the U.K. increasingly difficult, a brave and daring pastoral letter reminds Catholics that immigrants bring us the face of God and must be helped as much as possible. The “Mission of the Church to migrants in England and Wales” was set up by the Office for Political Refugees of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales. Follows and excerpt. For greater charity. The bishops opened their letter with an appeal “for a more visible culture of reception towards our immigrants brothers and sisters”, so that “their rich cultural and spiritual heritage may be recognized and celebrated” in the spirit of the encyclical “Populorum Progressio”, with which Paul VI asked Catholics to help those who are endeavouring to escape hunger, poverty, endemic diseases and ignorance”. The value of immigrants. While Premier Gordon Brown’s government is closing the doors of the United Kingdom to all those who have a poor knowledge of English and are not qualified for employment, putting to risk sectors like restaurants and hospitals which function thanks to foreigners’ cooperation, the bishops recalled that “the lack of labour in the building sector, in hospitals and in the services constitute a job opportunity for a Polish worker, an Indian nurse, and a Portuguese waiter”. Three criticisms. In their letter prelates condemned governments’ schizophrenia “when imposing strict measures to curb immigrants’ movements while seeking qualified workers from Developing Countries”, thus placing non-qualified workers in the hands of those who organize human trafficking, causing severe human loss while desperate immigrants try to enter the European Union. Women immigration. In recalling the words of the Pope during his message for the Day of Migrants in 2006, the bishops of England and Wales recalled that “almost 50% of immigrants are women, and their special vulnerability ought to be recognized. This applies especially to those women with no education and who grow a family on their own, since they are easy targets for the panders of women’s domestic and sexual slavery”. “Only few governments take gender into account when developing their policies. We pay homage to the British government for having signed and ratified the European Convention of 2004 against trafficking. The only which ensures the defence of all victims of human trafficking”. New multicultural cities. “These new realities often depicted negatively by the media have engendered xenophobia and racism”, is written in the document. “The Catholic Church rejects all forms of racism, including the anti-immigrant rhetoric increasingly spreading in some parts of the Country especially during elections”. Poor immigrant management engenders racism. The bishops pointed out that Britain’s public opinion is against immigrants since it has the impression that their arrival is a problem, which the Country is unable to cope with. Unfortunately immigrants can often afford to live only in the poorest parts of the Country, often having to compete with the poorer brackets of the local population to obtain subsidies and access to public services. This triggers unavoidable tensions, which negatively affect the entire community. Immigrants in the Catholic Church. The last part of the letter is devoted to reception of immigrants in Catholic congregations. The Bishops recalled that while in the past Christians were the ones who went on mission to other Countries, today it’s the Church which needs to act in a receptive manner towards those who come to Europe from different Countries. As relates to immigrants, whose native cultures are often marked by a strong sense of belonging, the Catholic community could replace the extended families and the societies they left behind them. It’s important to give immigrants the possibility to meet and pray in their own language and, if necessary, they should be supported by someone who speaks their same tongue and may help those who just arrived to integrate within the parish and into society”. Also liturgy must follow this same direction, “in unity but without uniformity, integrating the liturgical elements of other cultures”. A special recommendation was made to local churches to implement “programs for immigrants for a true reception of foreigners”.