Parishes’ mobility

Migration is not only a social phenomenon that appeals to the commitment of Christian citizens; it is also a sign of the times and a factor of change within the ecclesial community. The issue was addressed by participants in the annual meeting “The pastoral care of migrants in Europe’s big cities”, held in Milan March 13-16, which brought together diocesan representatives and pastoral workers from Barcelona, Basel, Brussels, Cologne, Lyon, Milan, Turin and Vienna, along with the national director of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference Migratio Commission, Marco Schmid. The theme of the meeting was: “Walking together in diversity. Which ‘parish’ do we want to be?”.The parish. The role of parishes can no longer be taken for granted in contemporary society, especially in those European countries where it is being questioned. The first part of the meeting highlighted a number of differing situations. In the large urban centers of northern and central Europe the decline in religious practice among autochthonous populations along with the crisis in priestly vocations have seriously undermined the possibility of preserving what pastoral theologian Fr Luca Bressan defined “the parish grid”, i.e. the capillary presence of the Church with her pastoral structures. Indeed Catholic immigrants are a conspicuous part – if not the majority – of those attending Sunday Mass and parish activities, while in Spain and Italy these processes unfold at a slower pace. Those in charge of the pastoral care of migrants are increasingly convinced of the fact that Catholic immigrants can no longer be viewed only on the basis of their material and religious needs, that have always been at the heart of the commitment of local churches across Europe. Now the time of encounter between local and immigrant faithful has come, the time to share their faith, along with structures, financial resources and decisional responsibility.Major changes. Highlighting the immigration “variable” in the theological-pastoral reflection on the transformation of parishes’ contribution in Europe is still insufficient. Father Bressan underlined the shift from a traditional form of Christianity to a Christianity of conversion, implying the reshaping of a church belonging to a people into a church open to communities formed by motivated individuals who live faith as the result of their personal choice. Within this new reality, free, Pentecostal and charismatic Churches, brought in from the US, are marked by a strong vitality. The parish won’t disappear, it will change, so as to continue acting as an area of Christian life whereby all those who inhabit it – thus not only occasional worshippers – may have the experience of knowing the God of Jesus Christ. In this process, what is the role of foreign-language Christian communities established with the arrival of Christian immigrants? Which are the forms of evangelization of Christian migrants’ children possessing mixed cultural identities? It appears that theologians and those charged with developing new pastoral projects for European dioceses haven’t sufficiently delved into this question.Complex problems. During the conference three speakers illustrated the various kinds of religiosity – along with the pastoral structures – of the Catholic Church in Africa, Latin America and China, highlighting the fact that the migration to Europe of these faithful inevitably implies the coexistence of various forms of “Christianities” and “Catholicisms” that differ in their theological understandings, traditions, liturgy, catechesis, and modalities of professing their faith. These were the past theological experiences of countries such as Switzerland and Germany with the arrival of migrants from Italy, Spain, Croatia, and Poland. Moreover, there is the question of the formation of priests, pastoral workers, and faithful called to engage in multi-cultural dialogue. Migrations are radically changing our societies, a change which triggers tensions and fear. The Church is called to face the difficult challenge of education of diversity and coexistence, with the objective of acting as a prophetic sign for societies, starting with her communities, parishes and pastoral units, drawing from Christian biblical and theological content. A meeting is not enough to address such complex issues, for this reason participants conveyed their intention to focus on the theme of the relationship between the secularized European context, immigrants’ religiousness along with the diffusion of new Churches and religious movements in next year’s meeting.