Brian R Corbin's Reflections on Religion and Life

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December 8, 2007 • 7:31 pm 0

Holy See on Migrant Workers

Holy See on Migrant Workers
“A Comprehensive Perspective Is Needed”

GENEVA, DEC. 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent observer of the Holy See to the Office of the United Nations and Specialized Institutions in Geneva, gave at the 94th Council Session of the International Organization of Migration. The session was held Nov. 27-30 in Geneva.

* * *

Mr. President,

1. The diversity of population movements around the world has increasingly caught the attention of international organizations and States: temporary and permanent migrant workers, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, trafficked women and men, multinational corporations transferred personnel. New categories emerge like internal and cross-borders’ displaced people forced to move by the degradation of the environment, certain types of development projects and climate change.

The Delegation of the Holy See appreciates the strategic choice made by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to address the migratory phenomenon from “an integral and holistic perspective” while focusing on its specific mandate. While targeted responses render effective the protection and assistance due to all uprooted persons, a comprehensive perspective is needed. In fact, today’s economic and political interdependence has shown that international migrations have become a structural component of modern societies.

In particular, the global labor market attracts workers from an ever wider range of countries, making the migration for work the largest segment of all population movements. People vote with their feet, searching to meet their aspirations for security and a decent life for themselves and their families.

2. Estimates now give more than 200 million persons in the world living and working in countries different than the one in which they were born or were citizens and the 90 million workers among them are almost three percent of the 3 billion strong labor force. The numbers, in a way, are the tip of the iceberg revealing the complexity of a phenomenon that affects countries of origin, transit and destination, laws and administrative regulations, cultural, religious and social modalities of coexistence. A cooperative approach to migrations becomes unavoidable and it should be inclusive of States, intergovernmental bodies, civil society.

Nongovernmental organizations and faith-communities in particular, with their ear to the ground and a geographically diversified experience, can provide insights and collaboration both in policy formation and in operational assistance. This Delegation appreciates as a positive development the formalized process for exchange of views and information on the part of the Heads of United Nations’ agencies with responsibility for one or the other aspect of human mobility. But coherence among the various players seems still at an initial stage and it would be beneficial if some participation of representatives of migrants’ organizations and interests would be included at all levels of policy development.

3. Migrant workers, skilled and unskilled, have taken central place in many current debates. This type of migration is looked at as a positive force for development of countries of origin, especially through the billions of dollars in remittances sent home by the migrants — $167 billion sent to developing countries in 2005 — as well for the economy of receiving countries.

In fact, for a growing number of countries, immigrants have become a necessity to compensate for the dwindling workforce and for their demographic deficit. But the pragmatic advantages accepted through the admission of migrants are on several occasions overshadowed by an ambivalent attitude that is manifest in media and public opinion that allow for stereotyping and negative generalizations of newcomers. Fairness in recognizing the contribution immigrants make can serve as a good base for their integration.

4. Two important dimensions of contemporary migrations are not adequately discussed and paid attention to in the formulation of policies: the victims of migration flows and the priority that persons have over the economy. The whole system of protection and of human rights is relegated to a secondary supporting role instead of serving as it was intended, as an assurance that the dignity of all human persons must take precedence.

Just a few days ago, 64 migrants drowned before the shores of Yemen, where the previous month another 66 desperate asylum seekers had died or were missing after being thrown overboard by traffickers. Some media report that about 500 persons have met their death this year in the dangerous enterprise of crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States. As many as 6,000 people have died or disappeared in 2006 alone just trying to cross the waters from the West coast of Africa to the Canary Islands. Unaccompanied children are found in these traumatic flows across seas and borders. New creative forms of prevention, of humanitarian assistance and protection mechanisms are called for.

5. An inclusive approach that takes into account all components of the migrants’ journey: the decisions to emigrate and of how many immigrants to admit; the modalities of participation of various types of migrants in the host society; the role played by migrants in the economic development and in society; the migrants’ entitlement to protection and the exercise of their rights, seems the appropriate way to proceed. Present political trends appear clear and slanted in the direction of responding to the more emotional and vocal demands of public opinion for control and integration. In the long run, however, a fair and effective solution will come from a comprehensive approach that embraces all policy components: the rights of the state and of the receiving community, of the migrants, and of the international common good.

A growing consensus supports the convenience of such an inclusive approach and the necessity to pay more attention to migrants themselves and not only to their economic role as temporary workforce or permanent settlers. International treaties and conventions that directly, or in a general way, include references to the rights of migrants have adopted the centrality of the human person as their supporting base. In a parallel way, the social teaching of the Catholic Church, and in fact that of all religious traditions, looks at migrants as human beings in the first place and then as citizens or guests, or as economic and cultural agents.

The ethical dimension in the discussion of migration results from a larger anthropological framework in which secular and religious people can find a common ground in order to address the inevitable tension between different principles. In the case of migrants, this tension appears in the moral obligations of governments to ensure the safety and well-being of their own populations and a more universal ethic that values the well-being of all mankind and of each person. In this sense, the High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development could state: “Respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of all migrants was considered essential for reaping the full benefits of international migration.”

Mr. President,

6. As the concerted effort to refine ways and means to manage the different aspects of human mobility moves forward, the Delegation of the Holy See considers it more urgent to muster the political will to ratify and implement the human rights’ instruments already developed and to make them the foundation of a truly humane and comprehensive policy. Education can play a major role. Migrants, aware of their rights, can be more secure in offering their services and talents and the receiving community, well informed and respectful of these rights, will feel freer in extending its solidarity in order to build together a common future.

[Original text: English]

Filed under: Migration, Papal Teachings, Social Justice

December 2, 2007 • 11:32 pm 0

Pope’s Address to Catholic NGOs

Pope’s Address to Catholic NGOs
“Called to Take Part in Public Life in a Personal Capacity”

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Benedict XVI gave Saturday upon receiving in audience participants in the Forum of Catholic-Inspired Nongovernmental Organizations.

* * *

Your Excellencies,
Representatives of the Holy See to International Organizations,
Dear Friends,

I am pleased to greet all of you who are assembled in Rome to reflect on the contribution which Catholic-inspired Non-governmental Organizations can offer, in close collaboration with the Holy See, to the solution of the many problems and challenges associated with the various activities of the United Nations and other international and regional organizations. To each of you I offer a cordial welcome. In a particular way I thank the Substitute of the Secretariat of State, who has graciously interpreted your common sentiments, while at the same time informing me of the goals of your Forum. I also greet the young representative of the Non-governmental Organizations present.

Taking part in this important meeting are representatives of groups long associated with the presence and activity of the Catholic laity at the international level, along with members of other, more recent groups which have come into being as part of the current process of global integration. Also present are groups mainly committed to advocacy, and others chiefly concerned with the concrete management of cooperative projects promoting development. Some of your organizations are recognized by the Church as public and private associations of the lay faithful, others share in the charism of certain institutes of consecrated life, while still others enjoy only civil recognition and include non-Catholics and non-Christians among their members. All of you, however, have in common a passion for promoting human dignity. This same passion has constantly inspired the activity of the Holy See in the international community. The real reason for the present meeting, then, is to express gratitude and appreciation for what you are doing in active collaboration with the papal representatives to international organizations. In addition, this meeting seeks to foster a spirit of cooperation among your organizations and consequently the effectiveness of your common activity on behalf of the integral good of the human person and of all humanity.

This unity of purpose can only be achieved through a variety of roles and activities. The multilateral diplomacy of the Holy See, for the most part, strives to reaffirm the great fundamental principles of international life, since the Church’s specific contribution consists in helping “to form consciences in political life and to stimulate greater insight into the authentic requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly” (“Deus Caritas Est,” 28). On the other hand, “the direct duty to work for a just ordering of society is proper to the lay faithful” — and in the context of international life this includes Christian diplomats and members of Non-governmental Organizations — who “are called to take part in public life in a personal capacity” and “to configure social life correctly, respecting its legitimate autonomy and cooperating with other citizens according to their respective competences and fulfilling their own responsibility” (ibid., 29).

International cooperation between governments, which was already emerging at the end of the nineteenth century and which grew steadily throughout the last century despite the tragic disruption of two world wars, has significantly contributed towards the creation of a more just international order. In this regard, we can look with satisfaction to achievements such as the universal recognition of the juridical and political primacy of human rights, the adoption of shared goals regarding the full enjoyment of economic and social rights by all the earth’s inhabitants, the efforts being made to develop a just global economy and, more recently, the protection of the environment and the promotion of intercultural dialogue.

At the same time, international discussions often seem marked by a relativistic logic which would consider as the sole guarantee of peaceful coexistence between peoples a refusal to admit the truth about man and his dignity, to say nothing of the possibility of an ethics based on recognition of the natural moral law. This has led, in effect, to the imposition of a notion of law and politics which ultimately makes consensus between states — a consensus conditioned at times by short-term interests or manipulated by ideological pressure — the only real basis of international norms. The bitter fruits of this relativistic logic are sadly evident: we think, for example, of the attempt to consider as human rights the consequences of certain self-centred lifestyles; a lack of concern for the economic and social needs of the poorer nations; contempt for humanitarian law, and a selective defence of human rights. It is my hope that your study and reflection during these days will result in more effective ways of making the Church’s social doctrine better known and accepted on the international level. I encourage you, then, to counter relativism creatively by presenting the great truths about man’s innate dignity and the rights which are derived from that dignity. This in turn will contribute to the forging of a more adequate response to the many issues being discussed today in the international forum. Above all, it will help to advance specific initiatives marked by a spirit of solidarity and freedom.

What is needed, in fact, is a spirit of solidarity conducive for promoting as a body those ethical principles which, by their very nature and their role as the basis of social life, remain non-negotiable. A spirit of solidarity imbued with a strong sense of fraternal love leads to a better appreciation of the initiatives of others and a deeper desire to cooperate with them. Thanks to this spirit, one will always, whenever it is useful or necessary, work in collaboration either with the various non-governmental organizations or the representatives of the Holy See, with due respect for their differences of nature, institutional ends and methods of operation. On the other hand, an authentic spirit of freedom, lived in solidarity, will help the initiative of the members of non-governmental organization to create a broad gamut of new approaches and solutions with regard to those temporal affairs which God has left to the free and responsible judgement of every individual. When experienced in solidarity, legitimate pluralism and diversity will lead not to division and competition, but to ever greater effectiveness. The activities of your organizations will bear genuine fruit provided they remain faithful to the Church’s magisterium, anchored in communion with her pastors and above all with the successor of Peter, and meet in a spirit of prudent openness the challenges of the present moment.

Dear friends, I thank you once again for your presence today and for your dedicated efforts to advance the cause of justice and peace within the human family. Assuring you of a special remembrance in my prayers, I invoke upon you, and the organizations you represent, the maternal protection of Mary, Queen of the World. To you, your families and your associates, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.

[Original text: English]

© Copyright 2007 — Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Filed under: Social Doctrine, Social Justice

November 29, 2007 • 5:20 pm 0

JAN 13, 2008: Holy Father’s Message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE 94th WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
(13 January 2008)

Young Migrants

The theme of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees invites us this year to reflect in particular on young migrants. As a matter of fact, the daily news often speaks about them. The vast globalization process underway around the world brings a need for mobility, which also induces many young people to emigrate and live far from their families and their countries. The result is that many times the young people endowed with the best intellectual resources leave their countries of origin, while in the countries that receive the migrants, laws are in force that make their actual insertion difficult. In fact, the phenomenon of emigration is becoming ever more widespread and includes a growing number of people from every social condition. Rightly, therefore, the public institutions, humanitarian organizations and also the Catholic Church are dedicating many of their resources to helping these people in difficulty.

For the young migrants, the problems of the so-called “difficulty of dual belonging” seem to be felt in a particular way: on the one hand, they feel a strong need to not lose their culture of origin, while on the other, the understandable desire emerges in them to be inserted organically into the society that receives them, but without this implying a complete assimilation and the resulting loss of their ancestral traditions. Among the young people, there are also girls who fall victim more easily to exploitation, moral forms of blackmail, and even abuses of all kinds. What can we say, then, about the adolescents, the unaccompanied minors that make up a category at risk among those who ask for asylum? These boys and girls often end up on the street abandoned to themselves and prey to unscrupulous exploiters who often transform them into the object of physical, moral and sexual violence.

Next, looking more closely at the sector of forced migrants, refugees and the victims of human trafficking, we unhappily find many children and adolescents too. On this subject it is impossible to remain silent before the distressing images of the great refugee camps present in different parts of the world. How can we not think that these little beings have come into the world with the same legitimate expectations of happiness as the others? And, at the same time, how can we not remember that childhood and adolescence are fundamentally important stages for the development of a man and a woman that require stability, serenity and security? These children and adolescents have only had as their life experience the permanent, compulsory “camps” where they are segregated, far from inhabited towns, with no possibility normally to attend school. How can they look to the future with confidence? While it is true that much is being done for them, even greater commitment is still needed to help them by creating suitable hospitality and formative structures.

Precisely from this perspective the question is raised of how to respond to the expectations of the young migrants? What can be done to help them? Of course, it is necessary to aim first of all at support for the family and schools. But how complex the situations are, and how numerous the difficulties these young people encounter in their family and school contexts! In families, the traditional roles that existed in the countries of origin have broken down, and a clash is often seen between parents still tied to their culture and children quickly acculturated in the new social contexts. Likewise, the difficulty should not be underestimated which the young people find in getting inserted into the educational course of study in force in the country where they are hosted. Therefore, the scholastic system itself should take their conditions into consideration and provide specific formative paths of integration for the immigrant boys and girls that are suited to their needs. The commitment will also be important to create a climate of mutual respect and dialogue among all the students in the classrooms based on the universal principles and values that are common to all cultures. Everyone’s commitment—teachers, families and students—will surely contribute to helping the young migrants to face in the best way possible the challenge of integration and offer them the possibility to acquire what can aid their human, cultural and professional formation. This holds even more for the young refugees for whom adequate programs will have to be prepared, both in the scholastic and the work contexts, in order to guarantee their preparation and provide the necessary bases for a correct insertion into the new social, cultural and professional world.

The Church looks with very particular attention at the world of migrants and asks those who have received a Christian formation in their countries of origin to make this heritage of faith and evangelical values bear fruit in order to offer a consistent witness in the different life contexts. Precisely in this regard, I invite the ecclesial host communities to welcome the young and very young people with their parents with sympathy, and to try to understand the vicissitudes of their lives and favor their insertion.

Then, among the migrants, as I wrote in last year’s Message, there is one category to consider in a special way: the students from other countries who because of their studies, are far from home. Their number is growing constantly: they are young people who need a specific pastoral care because they are not just students, like all the rest, but also temporary migrants. They often feel alone under the pressure of their studies and sometimes they are also constricted by economic difficulties. The Church, in her maternal concern, looks at them with affection and tries to put specific pastoral and social interventions into action that will take the great resources of their youth into consideration. It is necessary to help them find a way to open up to the dynamism of interculturality and be enriched in their contact with other students of different cultures and religions. For young Christians, this study and formation experience can be a useful area for the maturation of their faith, a stimulus to be open to the universalism that is a constitutive element of the Catholic Church.

Dear young migrants, prepare yourselves to build together your young peers a more just and fraternal society by fulfilling your duties scrupulously and seriously towards your families and the State. Be respectful of the laws and never let yourselves be carried away by hatred and violence. Try instead to be protagonists as of now of a world where understanding and solidarity, justice and peace will reign. To you, in particular, young believers, I ask you to profit from your period of studies to grow in knowledge and love of Christ. Jesus wants you to be his true friends, and for this it is necessary for you to cultivate a close relationship with Him constantly in prayer and docile listening to his Word. He wants you to be his witnesses, and for this it is necessary for you to be committed to living the Gospel courageously and expressing it in concrete acts of love of God and generous service to your brothers and sisters. The Church needs you too and is counting on your contribution. You can play a very providential role in the current context of evangelization. Coming from different cultures, but all united by belonging to the one Church of Christ, you can show that the Gospel is alive and suited to every situation; it is an old and ever new message. It is a word of hope and salvation for the people of all races and cultures, of all ages and eras.

To Mary, the Mother of all humanity, and to Joseph, her most chaste spouse, who were both refugees together with Jesus in Egypt, I entrust each one of you, your families, those who take care of the vast world of young migrants in various ways, the volunteers and pastoral workers that are by your side with their willingness and friendly support.

May the Lord always be close to you and your families so that together you can overcome the obstacles and the material and spiritual difficulties you encounter on your way. I accompany these wishes with a special Apostolic Blessing for each one of you and for those who are dear to you.

From the Vatican, October 18, 2007

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

© Copyright 2007 – Libreria Editrice Vaticana

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/migration/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20071018_world-migrants-day_en.html

Filed under: Migration

November 29, 2007 • 5:03 pm 0

Caritas President Cardinal Rodriguez urges religious leaders to do more on HIV

English

Embargoed until 29 November 2007

Caritas President Cardinal Rodriguez urges religious leaders to do more on HIV

Vatican City, 29 November 2007 – Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga says religious leaders must be at the forefront of responding to HIV and AIDS.

In a statement to mark World AIDS Day, the Caritas President says that religious leaders can do this by helping to spread accurate information and promoting responsible behaviour to halt the spread of the virus.

Cardinal Rodriguez said, “I welcome the inspiration and motivation provided by the 2007 Worlds AIDS Day theme of ‘Take the Lead. Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise’. Such leadership must be taken on all levels of society in order to respond justly and comprehensively to the global HIV pandemic.

“Religious leaders can, should, and do exercise a leadership role by facilitating accurate information and by promoting responsible behaviour to prevent the further spread of HIV, by giving leadership on providing health, social, and pastoral service to people affected by or vulnerable to the pandemic, and making tangible efforts to eliminate the irrational fear, stigma, and discrimination resulting from this global health challenge.

“I am pleased to note that 2007 marks the 20th year since Caritas made and has kept the promise to accompany the leadership of the Catholic Church in its comprehensive response to AIDS.”

Progress has been made in recent years in tackling the global HIV crisis, including expanded access to treatment and increased funding and political will at national and international level. Still, the pandemic is outpacing the response.

UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate that 33.2 million people worldwide are living with HIV. In 2007, 2.5 million people – mainly from poorer countries – became infected with the virus, while 2.1 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses.

Caritas says religious leaders can play an important role, too, in demanding greater leadership, political action, and accountability from governments in making universal access to prevention, treatment, care, and support by 2010 a reality.

Faith-based organisations provide the majority of care to people living with HIV, as much as 70 percent in some sub-Saharan African countries. Over the years, Caritas has focused on building up the Catholic Church’s response by contributing technical expertise in the design of HIV programmes, training, research, advocacy, and information sharing on best practises, and by linking up this response across the international healthcare community.

Please contact Patrick Nicholson at 0039 06 698 79725 or 0039 334 3590700 or nicholson@caritas.va

Spanish

Embargoed until 29 November 2007

El Presidente de Caritas exhorta a los líderes religiosos para un mayor empeño en la lucha contra el SIDA

Ciudad del Vaticano, 29 de noviembre 2007 – El Presidente de Caritas Internationalis, el Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, exhorta a los líderes religiosos para que estén siempre en la vanguardia de la lucha contra el VIH y el SIDA.

En unas declaraciones, en ocasión del Día Mundial del SIDA, el Presidente de Caritas Internationalis asegura que los líderes religiosos pueden ayudar a difundir información detallada y a promover un comportamiento responsable, con el fin de frenar la difusión del virus.

El Cardinal Rodríguez afirma: “Es de particular inspiración y motivación el tema elegido este año para conmemorar el Día Mundial del SIDA: ‘Asume el liderazgo. Detener el SIDA. Mantener la promesa’. Ese liderazgo tiene que ser asumido en todos los planos de la sociedad, con el fin de responder de manera adecuada y exhaustiva a la pandemia del VIH.”

“Los líderes religiosos pueden, y deben, ejercer un rol relevante, facilitando información minuciosa y promoviendo un comportamiento responsable, en la prevención de la ulterior difusión del VIH. Deben ser líderes en la provisión de servicios de salud y pastorales a los afectados por o vulnerables a la pandemia. Además, hay que hacer tangibles los esfuerzos para eliminar el temor irracional, el estigma y la discriminación, derivados de este reto a la salud mundial.”

“He notado con satisfacción que el 2007 marca el 20.º año desde que Caritas hizo, y todavía mantiene, la promesa de acompañar a los líderes de la Iglesia católica en su respuesta exhaustiva al SIDA.”

Ha habido progresos en los últimos años, en nuestra lucha mundial contra el SIDA, como un mayor acceso al tratamiento y el incremento de fondos, así como voluntad política, en ámbito nacional e internacional. Aunque la difusión de la pandemia es todavía mayor que la respuesta.

ONUSIDA y la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) estiman que 33,2 millones de personas de todo el mundo viven con el VIH. En el 2007, 2,5 millones de personas – sobre todo en los países más pobres – se contagiaron, mientras 2,1 millones de personas murieron a causa de enfermedades relacionadas con el SIDA.

Para Caritas, los líderes religiosos pueden desempeñar un rol importante también, exigiendo mayor liderazgo, acción política y responsabilidad de los gobiernos, haciendo realidad el acceso universal a la prevención, los tratamientos, la asistencia y la ayuda para 2010.

Las organizaciones confesionales son la que ofrecen la mayor parte de la asistencia a las personas que viven con el VIH, tanto como el 70% en los países del África subsahariana. Con los años, Caritas se ha centrado en consolidar la respuesta de la Iglesia católica, contribuyendo con nuestras capacidades en el diseño de programas sobre el VIH, capacitación, investigación, incidencia e información sobre mejores prácticas, así como vinculando esta respuesta a toda la comunidad internacional de la asistencia sanitaria.

Contactar: Patrick Nicholson – 0039 06 698 797 25; 0039 334 3590 700 o nicholson@caritas.va

French

Embargoed until 29 November 2007

Le Président de Caritas, le cardinal Rodriguez, exhorte les dirigeants religieux à faire davantage pour lutter contre le VIH

Cité du Vatican, le 29 novembre 2007 – Le Président de Caritas Internationalis, le cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, estime que les dirigeants religieux doivent être au tout premier rang de la lutte contre le VIH et le sida.

Dans une déclaration marquant la Journée mondiale du sida, le Président de Caritas a expliqué que, pour ce faire, les dirigeants religieux devaient contribuer à diffuser des informations exactes et promouvoir les comportements responsables pour stopper la propagation du virus.

Le cardinal Rodriguez a déclaré “Je me réjouis de l’inspiration et de la motivation fournies par le thème de la Journée mondiale du sida 2007 ‘Appel au leadership. Stop sida. Tenez la promesse’. Ce leadership doit être pris à tous les niveaux de la société si l’on veut répondre à la pandémie mondiale du VIH avec justesse et dans sa totalité.

“Les dirigeants religieux peuvent assurer, doivent assurer et assurent effectivement un rôle de leadership, en contribuant à diffuser des informations exactes et en promouvant les comportements responsables pour prévenir la poursuite de la propagation du VIH, en prenant des initiatives visant la fourniture de services sanitaires, sociaux et pastoraux aux personnes touchées par la pandémie, ou qui y sont exposées, et en faisant des efforts tangibles pour éliminer la peur irrationnelle, la stigmatisation et la discrimination générées par cet enjeu de santé mondial.

“Je suis heureux de constater que 2007 marque la 20ème année depuis que Caritas a fait et tenu la promesse d’accompagner le leadership de l’Eglise catholique dans sa réponse globale face au sida”.

Des progrès ont été faits ces dernières années pour traiter la crise mondiale du VIH, y compris l’accès élargi au traitement et le financement et la volonté politique accrus aux échelons national et international. Mais la pandémie continue à aller plus vite que la réponse.

L’ONUSIDA et l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) estiment que 33,2 millions de personnes dans le monde vivent avec le VIH. En 2007, 2,5 millions de personnes – essentiellement des pays les plus pauvres – ont été infectées par le virus tandis que 2,1 millions sont décédées de maladies opportunistes liées au sida.

Caritas estime que les dirigeants religieux peuvent également jouer un rôle important, en demandant davantage de leadership, d’action politique et de responsabilité de la part des gouvernements pour que l’accès universel d’ici à 2010 à la prévention, au traitement, à la prise en charge et à l’appui en matière de VIH devienne réalité.

Les organisations confessionnelles fournissent la majorité des soins aux personnes vivant avec le VIH, par exemple, jusqu’à 70% dans certains pays de l’Afrique subsaharienne. Au fil des ans, Caritas s’est attachée à élaborer la réponse de l’Eglise catholique, en apportant des contributions sous la forme de connaissances techniques pour la conception de programmes relatifs au VIH, formations, recherche, actions de plaidoyer et partage des informations sur les meilleures pratiques, et en intégrant cette réponse dans la communauté sanitaire internationale.

Filed under: AIDS

November 28, 2007 • 2:24 pm 0

YOUNG MIGRANTS, THE THEME OF THE POPE’S MESSAGE

MESSAGE FOR WORLD DAY MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES PRESENTED

VATICAN CITY, NOV 28, 2007 (VIS) – Today in the Holy See Press Office, Cardinal Raffaele Martino, Archbishop Agostino Marchetto and Msgr. Novatus Rugambwa, respectively president, secretary, and under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, presented the Pope’s Message for the 94th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, due to be held on January 13, 2008 on the theme of “Young Migrants.”

Cardinal Martino affirmed that in our own time “the migration of young people is undergoing considerable growth. The young are forced to emigrate because of poverty and want, environmental decay, local and international conflicts, political and religious persecution, the demand for labor in industrialized countries, family reunion, etc.”

“Young migrants,” the cardinal said, “often find themselves alone, in a no-man’s-land halfway between two cultures.” This causes them “to live in a situation of great uncertainty that prevents them from conceiving a feasible project for their future and increases the factors that lead to marginalization, opening the doors to criminality, prostitution, alcohol, drugs and larceny.”

“The crisis of values of our own day,” the president of the pontifical council continued, “leads to the spiritual death of many young immigrants. Most of them are also relatively distant from religious concerns, and often recognize that they have received no … education in this field.”

“Specific pastoral action in support of young immigrants must be undertaken while bearing in mind the existential situation of the individual: … the language, culture, religion, origin and personal history of each young immigrant.”

Archbishop Marchetto focussed above all on aspects concerning the right to asylum and the situation of refugees. After recalling the fact that in some States unaccompanied minors are placed in detention, he turned to consider living conditions in refugee camps.

“Transitional camps,” he said, “must go back to the role for which they were intended: places in which to reside temporarily. … Currently, however, it has become a general practice, especially in countries of the South, to force people to live in overcrowded camps, very often in unspeakable conditions. Normally they are not even allowed to work, while their freedom of movement is limited, and thus they become totally dependent on the internal distribution of food within the camps. Moreover, they are often reduced to a life with a minimum of necessary goods and scant dignity. … Hence there is little future for people who live in these places, which are often located in remote areas.”

Finally, the archbishop praised the work of female religious who, “assisted by Catholic NGOs and by U.N. organizations, care for and accompany young people, especially girls who have suffered violence, rape or threats. There also exist,” he added, “centers for underage mothers, offering them a second chance to complete their interrupted education or to learn a trade.”

In his remarks, Msgr. Rugambwa considered the position of students who emigrate, highlighting how in his Message the Pope presents them “as a gift for man and for the Church. They bring with them the great resources of their youth, and must be open and receptive to new ideas and experiences while, at the same time, capable of remaining anchored in the truth.”

“As the Holy Father says,” indicated Msgr. Rugambwa, “these young people, must not only increase their openness to the dynamism of inculturation, but also seek opportunities for dialogue between cultures and religions, … thus they will experience the universality of the Church.”

OP/EMIGRANTS:REFUGEES/MARTINO:MARCHETTO VIS 071128 (590)

YOUNG MIGRANTS, THE THEME OF THE POPE’S MESSAGE

VATICAN CITY, NOV 28, 2007 (VIS) – “Young migrants” is the theme of the Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which is to be celebrated on January 13, 2008. The Message has been published in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. Large extracts of the English-language version are given below:

“The theme of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees invites us this year to reflect in particular on young migrants. … The vast globalization process underway around the world brings a need for mobility, which also induces many young people to emigrate and live far from their families and their countries. The result is that many times the young people endowed with the best intellectual resources leave their countries of origin, while in the countries that receive the migrants, laws are in force that make their actual insertion difficult.”

“For the young migrants, the problems of the so-called ‘difficulty of dual belonging’ seem to be felt in a particular way: on the one hand, they feel a strong need not to lose their culture of origin, while on the other, the understandable desire emerges in them to be inserted organically into the society that receives them, but without this implying a complete assimilation and the resulting loss of their ancestral traditions. Among the young people, there are also girls who fall victim more easily to exploitation, moral forms of blackmail, and even abuses of all kinds.

“Next, looking more closely at the sector of forced migrants, refugees and the victims of human trafficking, we unhappily find many children and adolescents too. On this subject it is impossible to remain silent before the distressing images of the great refugee camps present in different parts of the world. … These children and adolescents have only had as their life experience the permanent, compulsory ‘camps’ where they are segregated, far from inhabited towns, with no possibility normally to attend school.”

“The question is raised of how to respond to the expectations of the young migrants? What can be done to help them? Of course, it is necessary to aim first of all at support for the family and schools. But how complex the situations are, and how numerous the difficulties these young people encounter in their family and school contexts! In families, the traditional roles that existed in the countries of origin have broken down, and a clash is often seen between parents still tied to their culture and children quickly acculturated in the new social contexts.

“Likewise, the difficulty should not be underestimated which the young people find in getting inserted into the educational course of study in force in the country where they are hosted. Therefore, the scholastic system itself should take their conditions into consideration and provide specific formative paths of integration for the immigrant boys and girls that are suited to their needs. The commitment will also be important to create a climate of mutual respect and dialogue among all the students in the classrooms based on the universal principles and values that are common to all cultures.”

“The Church looks with very particular attention at the world of migrants and asks those who have received a Christian formation in their countries of origin to make this heritage of faith and evangelical values bear fruit in order to offer a consistent witness in the different life contexts.”

“Among the migrants … there is one category to consider in a special way: the students from other countries who because of their studies, are far from home. … They are young people who need a specific pastoral care because they are not just students, like all the rest, but also temporary migrants. They often feel alone under the pressure of their studies and sometimes they are also constricted by economic difficulties.”

“It is necessary to help them find a way to open up to the dynamism of inter-culturality and be enriched in their contact with other students of different cultures and religions. For young Christians, this study and formation experience can be a useful area for the maturation of their faith, a stimulus to be open to the universalism that is a constitutive element of the Catholic Church.

“Dear young migrants, prepare yourselves to build together your young peers a more just and fraternal society by fulfilling your duties scrupulously and seriously towards your families and the State. Be respectful of the laws and never let yourselves be carried away by hatred and violence. Try instead to be protagonists as of now of a world where understanding and solidarity, justice and peace will reign.”

“The Church needs you too and is counting on your contribution. You can play a very providential role in the current context of evangelization. Coming from different cultures, but all united by belonging to the one Church of Christ, you can show that the Gospel is alive and suited to every situation; it is an old and ever new message. It is a word of hope and salvation for the people of all races and cultures, of all ages and eras.”

MESS/YOUNG MIGRANTS/… VIS 071128 (870)

Filed under: Migration, Papal Teachings, Social Doctrine

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