Greater opening

An invitation to the European and African Christian communities to be “still more welcoming towards their foreign brothers, and recognize the value and contribution that immigrants make to their host countries”, but also to “take seriously the pastoral care of migrants, at all levels, from the hierarchies to the grassroots, creating offices and structures for the purpose” and maintaining “social concern also for the well-being of migrants, a concern that at times becomes political”. These are the main contents, as anticipated to SIR Europe by Father Duarte da Cunha, general secretary of the CCEE (Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe), of the final message of the Seminar on “Migration as a new opportunity for evangelization and solidarity”, held jointly by CCEE and SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar), at the invitation of the archdiocese of Liverpool, from 19 to 23 November. Some forty participants took part in the meeting, including European and African bishops, representatives of offices of the Roman Curia and Catholic humanitarian agencies. The message – which will be published shortly – is addressed to the Churches, bishops and pastoral agents. A source of richness for host countries. “On the part of European and African bishops – says Fr. da Cunha – there has been recognition of the complexity of the world phenomenon of migration, to which the Church is called to pay greater attention”. Migration, he explains, is not “only a social but also a pastoral question”. In the final message, explains the CCEE secretary, it is underlined that “we ought to consider migrants not as a problem but as children of God, who have rights and are a source of richness for their host countries. Migrants are also a grace given to us: for example, in European Churches the African communities are the liveliest of all”. The individual Bishops’ Conferences are therefore urged to establish “specialized centres of study, reception and specific pastoral care”, especially for “women and children who are the most vulnerable”. And the Churches are also asked “to play a role of advocacy with the state authorities and international institutions, with a view to the protection and defence of the dignity of migrants”.In Europe 5 million irregular immigrants . In Europe it is estimated there are some 5 million irregular immigrants, in the USA some 10 million. The phenomenon of migration “is global, complex and not transient. It is therefore an illusion to think it is possible to regulate it by reinforcing border controls, because that runs counter to the rights of persons”, said Monsignor Josef Voss, auxiliary bishop of Munster (Germany). He stressed that it is the task of the Church to “accompany and help migrants”, as she does through her own humanitarian agencies, but also to “participate in the political debate”. The Bishop of Porto-Novo in Benin, Mgr. René Ehuzu pointed out that “the decisions on this question cannot be taken in an atmosphere of fear, as is the case in Europe at the present time”. Even if the money remitted by Africans to their respective countries “is three times higher than aid and investments for development”, said Mgr. Ehuzu, “what Africans lose on leaving their homelands” (brain drain, lack of development, etc.) “is immeasurably greater than what they earn”.Migrants’ rights denied in South Africa. In South Africa, as described by Mgr. Zithulele Mvemve, Bishop of Klerksdorp, the presence of refugees from Zimbabwe is enormous (3 million according to the South African government, 500,000 according to more realistic estimates). It led to the outbreak of violent xenophobic attacks in May this year. The South African police, said the bishop of Klerksdorp, “hunts down irregular immigrants and returns them en masse to Zimbabwe, denying them refugee status, something that has aroused the criticisms of human rights organizations and the UN High Commission for Refugees”. The role of Churches of origin and host Churches in migration policies between Europe and Africa, according to Mgr. Mvemve, ought to include: actions of lobbying with governments; programmes of development, education and information in African countries; and programmes for refugees, workers and students. These proposals are shared by Father Hans Vocking, CCEE expert on questions of migration, who outlined current European immigration policies, such as the action plan 2008-2010 for a strategic partnership between the EU and Africa.Next appointment in 2010. “The welcome that Christian communities can and must give” to immigrants can be “a powerful sign to a society that only takes into consideration the colour of a person’s skin and only listens to the tone of his voice”, said Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, during an animated liturgy with singing and dancing, celebrated in the parish church of St. Anne, together with the African community of Liverpool. The main concerns that emerged during the Seminar include the dramatic situations in the Congo and in Sudan, the food and financial crisis, the closing of frontiers in Europe, and unemployment. The next meeting between African and European bishops will probably be deferred to 2010, because next year there’s be the Synod for Africa. The documents of the meeting will be published and sent to the secretariat of the Synod, “as a contribution to the preparation of its work”. The theme of the CCEE-SECAM meeting in 2010 could be cooperation and exchange between pastoral agents (women religious, missionaries, African priests in Europe and priests who accompany immigrants).