Today, "migrations are a characteristic of our epoch". Yesterday, those words were spoken by Msgr. Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, in the prolusion of the plenary assembly of bishops. He referred to the presentation for approval of the new writing of the document "The Church in Spain and The Migratory Pastoral". Then, the bishop listed a few data: "As for our country, the migratory phenomenon changed its direction in the last few years. We went from being a country of emigration to being one of the European countries with the highest rate of immigrants". This change of direction "took place in a short time. The figures are clear: in ten years, the number of foreigners went from 542,314 in 1996 to 4,144,166 in 2006". According to the bishop, "the integration of immigrants needs a patient and continuous effort, both by the country welcoming them and by the workers and their families. Immigrants must see their work and human rights acknowledged. On the other hand, they must respect laws and the legitimate traditions of the country receiving them". If everybody works "on the search for integration of immigrants he concluded, – the possible buds of rejection and exclusion will be easily suffocated".
