Intervento di P. Fabio Baggio, C.S.
Intervento di P. Michael Czerny, S.I.
Intervento di S.E. Mons. Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.I.
Intervento di P. Leonir Chiarello, C.S.
Alle ore 11.30 di questa mattina, presso la Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, ha avuto luogo una Conferenza Stampa di presentazione del Messaggio di Papa Francesco per la 105a Giornata Mondiale del Migrante e del Rifugiato 2019, sul tema: “Non si tratta solo di migranti”, che si celebra il prossimo 29 settembre.
Sono intervenuti alla Conferenza Stampa: S.E. Mons. Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.I., Arcivescovo di Lussemburgo e Presidente della Commissione delle Conferenze Episcopali della Comunità Europea – Comece; P. Fabio Baggio, C.S., Sotto-Segretario della Sezione migranti e rifugiati del Dicastero per il Servizio dello Sviluppo Umano Integrale; P. Michael Czerny, S.I., Sotto-Segretario della Sezione migranti e rifugiati del Dicastero per il Servizio dello Sviluppo Umano Integrale e P. Leonir Chiarello, C.S., Superiore Generale dei Missionari Scalabriniani.
Ne pubblichiamo di seguito gli interventi:
Intervento di P. Fabio Baggio, C.S.
Testo in lingua italiana
Traduzione in lingua inglese
Testo in lingua italiana
In occasione della celebrazione della 105a Giornata Mondiale del Migrante e del Rifugiato, il Santo Padre ha voluto formulare un messaggio che ha intitolato “Non si tratta solo di Migranti”.
Con tale scelta, Papa Francesco intende sottolineare che i suoi ripetuti appelli a favore dei migranti, dei rifugiati, degli sfollati e delle vittime della tratta devono essere compresi all’interno della sua profonda preoccupazione per tutti gli abitanti delle periferie esistenziali. L’affamato, l’assetato, il forestiero, l’ignudo, il malato e il carcerato che bussa oggi alla nostra porta è Gesù stesso che chiede di essere incontrato e assistito.
Come lo stesso Santo Padre ha sottolineato nella sua omelia di venerdì 15 febbraio 2019 a Sacrofano: “È davvero [Gesù], anche se i nostri occhi fanno fatica a riconoscerLo: coi vestiti rotti, con i piedi sporchi, col volto deformato, il corpo piagato, incapace di parlare la nostra lingua”.
Con l’intenzione di chiarire il significato del titolo del Messaggio, il Santo Padre lo ha declinato in sette sottotitoli, che sono stati parzialmente anticipati nella campagna di comunicazione che la Sezione Migranti e Rifugiati del Dicastero per il Servizio dello Sviluppo Umano Integrale ha lanciato nel marzo scorso. Tale campagna propone, a cadenza mensile, riflessioni, materiale informativo e sussidi multimediali, utili ad approfondire il tema del Messaggio del Santo Padre attraverso approcci diversificati.
Io presenterò, mi occuperò di presentare i primi quattro sottotitoli, lasciando a P. Michael la spiegazione degli altri tre.
Non si tratta solo di migranti: si tratta anche delle nostre paure. I timori che proviamo di fronte alle sfide migratorie di oggi sono reali, ma non possiamo lasciare che essi ci privino del desiderio e della capacità di incontrare l’altro, e in questi Gesù Cristo.
Non si tratta solo di migranti: si tratta della carità. I fratelli e le sorelle migranti ci offrono oggi l’occasione di vivere la carità più alta, quella che si esercita verso chi non è in grado di ricambiare e forse nemmeno di ringraziare.
Non si tratta solo di migranti: si tratta della nostra umanità. L’incontro con l’altro, con il prossimo bisognoso, ci offre l’occasione per restaurare l’umanità altrui, crescere nella nostra umanità e contribuire alla costruzione di una vera famiglia umana.
Non si tratta solo di migranti: si tratta di non escludere nessuno. I piccoli, i poveri, i più vulnerabili sono coloro che pagano il prezzo delle guerre, delle ingiustizie, dello sviluppo esclusivista. Noi siamo chiamati invece a includere tutti nel nostro cammino di crescita globale, affinché a tutti sia dato accesso allo sviluppo umano integrale.
[00925-IT.01] [Testo originale: Italiano]
Traduzione in lingua inglese
The core message and overall theme of the Holy Father for the celebration of the 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees carries the title "It is not just about migrants".
With this choice, Pope Francis intends to emphasize that his repeated appeals in favour of migrants, refugees, displaced persons and victims of trafficking must be understood within his deep concern for all inhabitants of the existential peripheries. The hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner who knocks today at our door is Jesus himself who asks to be met and assisted.
As the Holy Father himself emphasized in his homily on Friday 15 February 2019 in Sacrofano: "It is truly [Jesus], even though our eyes find it hard to recognize Him: with His clothing in rags, His feet dirty, His face disfigured, His body wounded, unable to speak our language…”.
To further clarify the title of his Message, the Holy Father has developed it into seven sub-themes. These were first introduced in the communication campaign that the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development launched last March. This campaign offers monthly reflections, information and diverse multimedia aids that support a deeper appreciation of the theme of the Holy Father’s Message.
I will now present the first four sub-themes and leave the remaining three to Fr. Michael.
It is not just about migrants: it is also about our fears. The fears we feel in the face of today's migratory challenges are real, but we cannot let them deprive us of the desire and ability to meet the other, and in others to meet Jesus Christ.
It is not just about migrants: it’s also about charity. Today our migrant brothers and sisters offer us the opportunity to live the highest level of charity, that which is practised towards those who are unable to reciprocate and perhaps even to thank us.
It is not just about migrants: it’s also about our humanity. The encounter with the other and with our neighbour’s needs offers us the opportunity to restore the humanity of others, to grow in our own humanity and to contribute to building up a true human family.
It is not just about migrants: it’s also about not excluding anyone. The little ones, the poor, the most vulnerable are those who pay the price of wars, injustice and exclusive development. We are called, instead, to include everyone in our journey of global growth, so that everyone has access to integral human development.
[00925-EN.01] [Original text: Italian]
Intervento di P. Michael Czerny, S.I.
Fr Fabio has explained the theme, the first 4 sub-themes, and the campaign in preparation for the next World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Noting that it is the 105th such day helps us to put concerns about human mobility in historical perspective. Migration is not an unexpected, unprecedented crisis or emergency. Human mobility, which unfortunately includes a proportion who are forced to flee for a variety of understandable reasons, is a fact of human life. The relevant question is: are governments, business, communications and civil society responding competently and responsibly? The Church’s role is not a substitute. Instead, as Christians, we commit ourselves to welcome, protect, promote and integrate vulnerable people on the move.
To do so with Christian faith and Christian compassion, we reflect in the light of this year’s theme, “It is not just about migrants”. Treating them as a ‘single issue’, in isolation, is not helpful. Whether they are departing, passing-through, arriving, settling down, or returning, vulnerable people on the move have affinities and relationships with many others “already here” who are in need. The Holy Father invites us to encounter newcomers, accompany them, pray for them and share life with them, within our wider concern for all marginalized people, all those inhabiting “the existential peripheries” as he repeatedly calls them. Please note that this goes against the tendency in society and in popular media to ignore them, caricature them, keep them invisible or make them disappear. Rejecting this rejection, our theme “It is not just about migrants” stimulates our curiosity, then our concern, then our compassion, and finally our solidarity.
One obstacle is spontaneous “group interest”, whatever the group might be: “Us first, me first, and then any others!” Instead, the true motto of the Christian is “The last shall be first!” (Mt 20:16). This is the logic of the Gospel, and we must put ourselves at their service. It is not just about migrants: it is about putting the last in first place is the fifth sub-theme. There are many unsung heroes who put vulnerable migrants and refugees in first place, before their own comfort and even safety, by helping in high seas rescues, in offering food and shelter, and simply by listening, healing, praying with them.
Another obstacle is the fragmentation of modern, fast-paced life. Even our seniors in some kind of retirement can feel this way, let alone students preparing for adulthood and adults who are more or less participating in the economy and society. There is great pressure to ignore relationships and deeper meanings in favour of quick consumerism and the flash of an electronic screen. But thanks be to God, vulnerable migrants come along and remind us existentially that it is about the whole person, about all people. Their immediate need and rights are a compelling reminder of the real facts of life, namely, that we cannot be reduced to mere consumers (whether of perishable goods or of fragmentary information) but need to encounter the whole person. Moreover, full and true life cannot be assured for a few while forgetting – or much worse, depriving -- many others. Either we all develop integrally, or there’s no integral development for anyone.
And the final, seventh consideration brings to mind the inspiring vision of the new Jerusalem with which our Holy Scriptures end in the Book of Revelation. “Now God’s home is with humankind … Now I make all things new” (Rv 21:3,5). This vision, as the sub-theme states, is about building the city of God and man. Building “our common home” (Laudato si’) among all people is not easy, particularly because it must not benefit only a few while many are exploited. The vision needs instead to be based on true faith and solid values. “Who welcomes the stranger welcomes me,” Jesus says, “and who welcomes me welcomes the Father who sent me.” (cf Mt 25:35, Mt 10:40) Christian parishes and religious communities who have taken in refugee families, as Pope Francis challenged them to do,1 often testify with great gratitude for a deeply human and deeply divine experience of Christ living in their midst.
Now the Migrants & Refugees Section looks ahead to the celebration of the 2019 World Day of Migrants and Refugees. For Sunday 29 September or another convenient date, we suggest preparing and celebrating a special Eucharist inviting migrants, refugees, survivors of human trafficking, and internally displaced persons, along with the organizations which serve them. This is what the Holy Father will do in St Peter's Square. Bishops and faithful of smaller dioceses can join with the Archbishop in the larger Cathedral. All these special Eucharists in a particular country could be celebrated at the same time in order to give visible expression to the welcome we offer to “the stranger” in Christ and to Christ in the stranger.
“Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Way,” we shall join together in praying for “God’s abundant blessings on all the world’s migrants and refugees and on all those who accompany them on their journey” (2019 Message).
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1“May every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every shrine of Europe welcome one family, beginning with my Diocese of Rome” (Angelus, 6.9.2015).
[00924-EN.01] [Original text: English]
Intervento di S.E. Mons. Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.I.
The Holy Father’s message is a key document for the Church in Europe.
It is not just about migrants … This message stimulates discernment by the Church in Europe: it is also about materialism! Materialism is not just a force outside the Church. It is inside our own hearts, too … the hearts of bishops, priests, religious and many faithful. If we do not feel called to welcome, protect, promote and integrate people arriving in Europe by migration, it is a sign of the materialism in our hearts … forgetting those who are needy and marginalized.
The Pope’s message is a call to conversion to the Church of Europe, a call to read the signs of our times, to focus our attention not on the divisions in our Church but on living the Gospel. We are reminded that the Church is called to serve the human family. It is about our present and about our future as church in Europe. Our Church in Europe is often like a mother without children … barren and fruitless.
The Pope’s message is a call to discernment.
Discernment has to be done along the way … walking together with other people. Allow me to speak briefly about my trip to Lesbos accompanying Cardinal Krajewski. These refugees, in the grip of hopelessness, are forgotten by Europe. No discernment is possible without seeing their faces, hearing their voices. Could it not be possible for the different dioceses in Europe to forge an agreement with their government and open humanitarian corridors for welcoming the people who have been forgotten for too long?
This could be the start of a common discernment, a real synodal process for a true reform of our Church.
The Pope’s message is a wake-up call for the Church in Europe. It is not just about migrants …. it is about our humanity, about our being Christian, about us listening to the call of Christ.
And at the same time, it is precisely about migrants, about each of them, about every human person on the margins of Europe … in camps in Greece and Libya, in various migration centres within member countries of the European Union.
All of these people, marginalized in Europe: let us give them a place in the heart of the Church!
[00929-EN.01] [Original text: English]
Intervento di P. Leonir Chiarello, C.S.
Testo in lingua italiana
Traduzione in lingua inglese
Testo in lingua italiana
I grandi numeri delle migrazioni internazionali sono noti. Secondo le stime delle Nazioni Unite, i migranti nel mondo sono circa 260 milioni. Ogni 10 anni questo numero aumenta di circa 50 milioni. Le migrazioni non sono un fenomeno occasionale o passeggero ma strutturale. Sono il risultato degli squilibri nello sviluppo economico e sociale, delle guerre, ma anche l'espressione di profonde trasformazioni negli stati e a livello internazionale. Pensare di fermare le migrazioni con decreti amministrativi, con barriere e muri è illusorio. È come voler fermare la storia. Di più, è privarsi dell’arricchimento reciproco che avviene nell’incontro tra persone di provenienze diverse.
Giustamente, ci ricorda il Santo Padre, quando si guarda alle migrazioni, ci si deve rendere conto che non si tratta solo di migranti. Si tratta delle aspirazioni e bisogni che sono inerenti a tutte le persone, ma da cui molti sono esclusi. Si tratta della ribellione che molti avvertono di fronte a questa esclusione, delle irregolarità che commettono spesso perché vie regolari sono precluse, ma anche dell’insensibilità di chi si chiude nella propria indifferenza e della malvagità di chi approfitta del bisogno altrui per interessi propri, negando il rispetto dei diritti e della dignità degli altri.
Cosciente di queste dimensioni, la comunità internazionale ha fatto un passo importante l’anno scorso con l’adozione del Patto globale sulle migrazioni e del Patto globale sui rifugiati. Si tratta di un importante sforzo da parte della comunità internazionale di considerare i migranti e i rifugiati con una visione comune, fondata sui principi del diritto umanitario, e tesa a conseguire benefici per tutti i soggetti coinvolti. Molto resta da fare, soprattutto nella traduzione degli intenti ispiratori in politiche e iniziative di cooperazione tra governi nella gestione delle migrazioni. Ma almeno esiste una base comune di riferimento, che si spera non resti solo un bel documento. Purtroppo non tutti gli Stati vi fanno parte, ma l’iniziativa testimonia che ci può ancora essere cooperazione tra le nazioni. Non si tratta solo di migranti, si tratta della convivenza civile internazionale.
I migranti raggiungono le nostre coste, le nostre città, le nostre comunità di credenti. La loro presenza è occasione di incontro e a volte di preoccupazione. Richiede di saper accogliere, saper fare spazio, saper ascoltare. Richiede di arricchire il racconto dell’incontro con Dio aggiungendo il capitolo dell’incontro con Dio che si fa straniero per aiutarci ad uscire dalle nostre certezze fondate su abitudini e paure per aprirci alla verità che sorprende. Non si tratta solo di migranti, si tratta di come essere Chiesa.
Sulla scia dell’ispirazione che il messaggio del Santo Padre suscita, vorrei ricordare cosa diceva molti anni fa il beato Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, padre dei migranti e fondatore dei missionari e missionarie per i migranti: le migrazioni sono “strumento di quella Provvidenza che presiede agli umani destini e li guida, anche attraverso le catastrofi, verso la meta ultima, che è il perfezionamento dell’uomo sulla terra e la gloria di Dio nei cieli”. Non si tratta solo di migranti, si tratta della qualità della nostra civiltà e della nostra fede.
[00926-IT.01] [Testo originale: Italiano]
Traduzione in lingua inglese
International migration and its large numbers are well known. According to United Nations estimates, there are about 260 million migrants worldwide. Every 10 years this number increases by about 50 million. Migration is not an occasional or passing phenomenon but something structural. It results not only from imbalances in economic and social development and wars, but also from profound changes in states and internationally. To think of stopping migration with administrative decrees, barriers and walls is illusory. It’s like wanting to stop history. And more, it squanders the mutual enrichment that can occur when people of different backgrounds meet.
The Holy Father rightly reminds us that when we look at migration, we must realize that it is not just a matter of migrants. It’s about the aspirations and needs common to all people, but from which many are excluded. It is about the rebellion that many feel in the face of this exclusion, about the irregularities that they often commit because regular routes are closed, but also about the insensitivity of those who hide within their own indifference and the wickedness of those who take advantage of others’ needs for their own interests, refusing to respect the rights and dignity of others.
Aware of these dimensions, the international community took an important step last year with the adoption of the Global Compact on Migration and the Global Compact for Refugees. This important stance of the international community espouses a common vision of migrants and refugees, based on principles of humanitarian law and aimed at achieving benefits for all involved. Much remains to be done, especially in translating inspirational intentions into policies and cooperative initiatives between governments in managing migration. But at least there is a common point of reference, which hopefully will become more than just a fine document. Unfortunately, not all States endorse it, but the initiative shows that cooperation between nations is possible. It is not just about migrants, it is about international civil coexistence.
Migrants reach our shores, our cities, our communities of believers. Their presence is an opportunity for encounter and for showing concern. It requires knowing how to welcome, how to provide room, how to listen. Here, the story of encounter with God acquires a chapter about meeting God within a stranger, wherein we set aside our certainties based on habits and fears and open up to discovering new truths about ourselves. It’s not just about migrants, it's about how to be a Church.
Inspired by the message of the Holy Father, I would like to recall what Blessed Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, father of migrants and founder of men and women missionaries for migrants, said many years ago: migrants are "the instrument of that Providence which presides over human destiny and which guides them, even through catastrophes, toward the ultimate goal which is the perfection of man on earth and the glory of God in Heaven". It is not just about migrants, it is about the quality of our civilization and our faith.
[00926-EN.01] [Original text: Italian]
[B0451-XX.02]
