A misunderstood people” “

“Eradicating episodes of racism and xenophobia” towards the gipsy population and an invitation to governments and international organizations to define “a common, global and shared programme to wrest gipsies from poverty and rejection”: that’s the basic hope that emerges from the document “Guidelines for the pastoral care of gipsies”, drawn up by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and presented in the Vatican Press Room on 28 February. The document – the first on this subject ever to be published by the Holy See – summarises the attention devoted by the Church to gipsies, which already began in the mid-20th century in France, Germany, Italy and Spain and has now spread through almost all the countries of Europe. An international Catholic Committee of Gipsies also exists and meets periodically. Between 10 and 15 million nomads of various ethnic groups (Roma, Sinti, Manouches, Kalé, Gitans, Yeniches…) exist in Europe, including some 4 million children of school age. Those commonly called “gipsies” – a name considered pejorative by some – are in actual fact a sum of various people who speak different languages, some of neo-Indian origin. The most numerous community is that of the Roma (or Romany), especially present in the countries of Eastern Europe (Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic and Slovakia). The characteristic of nomadism has altered in the course of time and many communities have now abandoned an itinerant life. Below is a brief summary of the document (the complete text in Italian can be downloaded from the section “documents” on old.agensir.it), of the projects of the European institutions and a comment. “GUIDELINES” OF THE HOLY SEE. At the pastoral level the document places the emphasis on the point of encounter between the specific pastoral care of gipsies and the ordinary pastoral ministry in the parishes. Baptism, for example, which is “most requested sacrament”, should be celebrated in the language of the gipsies and preferably in the presence of the parish community as a whole. The Guidelines further advise that ways and means of evangelization be used that are more consonant with gipsy culture, such as music, videos, pilgrimages to the sacred places of the “Saint” linked to family history, and the cult of the dead celebrated in a community manner. Innovations in the document include the recommendation that a bishop be appointed within each Bishops’ Conference, who would have the task of promoting the pastoral care of gipsies, and who should already have some experience in this field. THE VOICE OF THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS. “The Roma seem the most vulnerable group, and the most exposed to racism in the European Union. They suffer discrimination in the fields of work, housing and education and are regularly the victims of acts of violence”. These are the conclusions of the 2005 Report of the European Watchdog on Racism and Xenophobia presented in Vienna and Brussels on 23 November 2005. Also in the light of these findings, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Alvaro Gil Robles, presented a “Report on the situation of the human rights of the Roma, Sinti and nomads in Europe” in Strasbourg on 16 February. “In the majority of countries – he said -, the nomad population finds itself having to cope with considerable obstacles to be able to enjoy its own fundamental rights”. A European Forum of Roma and nomads was established recently. Intergovernmental committees, groups of experts and foundations that work to try to improve gipsies’ conditions of life also exist. A CHALLENGE. “Satisfaction” for the publication of the Holy See’s document, which represents “a real challenge for the European Churches”, was expressed, in a briefing to SirEurope, by Father CLAUDE DUMAS, national delegate for the pastoral care of gipsies and nomads of the French Church. He is one of the organizers of the large and picturesque pilgrimage that gipsies make each year to Sainte Maries de la Mer, in the South of France. “Satisfaction – he says – because the document recognises and affirms the identity of a people rejected not only during history, but still to this day, in Western countries”. In the countries of Eastern Europe, he reports, the situation is even worse, characterised by “great material precariousness and new forms of slavery, because some families become prey to criminal networks; some women are forcibly sterilized, or families become the victims of persecution”. However, notes Father Dumas, “the question of the impact of the document on local Catholic communities has still to be tackled. The guidelines invoked for specific pastoral care for gipsies risk throwing into crisis the practices currently in force”. In France, for example, the period of three months for preparation in baptism or one year for marriage, “are customs that do not take into account the specific requirements of this people on the move, which has a different relationship with time”. As the Guidelines also emphasize, the involvement of gipsy laity and youth projects should, says Father Dumas, be fostered. A formative work of this type is performed in France through “faith schools” or pilgrimage missions like that of Saintes Maries de la Mer.———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1457 N.ro relativo : 17 Data pubblicazione : 08/03/2006