Catholic Church39S Position On Human Migration

The Catholic Church offers a personal reflection on the accompanying human migration through several magisterial documents, and numerous local or centralized.

The magisterial documents

The constitution of Pius XII exsul familia

The flight into Egypt, as seen by Rembrandt.

Because of the Second World War , massive population displacements occur in Europe, covering over 20 million people. The apostolic constitution exsul Nazarethana familia, published by Pope Pius XII on ¹ August 1952 . Its title is an allusion to the flight into Egypt the Holy Family , taken as the archetype of the situation of refugee families . The document takes stock of relief efforts by Catholics and the Holy See since the beginning of the war prisoners and several million displaced people or refugees. It also gives an inventory of the papal intervention in the matter, including: "We tried our best to fill the minds of people sympathetic to the exiles and refugees who are our brothers in need. In fact, we often spoke of their miserable lives, defended their rights, and more than once we have called on their behalf to the generosity of every man and especially Catholics. "

The papal document implements the principle of universal destination of goods , a key element of the social doctrine of the Church , to welcome incoming families: "It is inevitable that some families are forced to move to Looking for a new home. So - according to the teaching of Rerum Novarum - the right of the family living space is recognized. When this happens, the natural migration reaches its goal, and the experience. We mean the more favorable distribution of men on the earth's surface under cultivation; this surface which God created and prepared for use by all. "

It is therefore for the Church a natural right to immigration, which is not however absolute. Indeed the Pope nuance: "domination of every nation, although it must be respected, can not be overstated to the point where, if anywhere on earth can make life a great number of men, we ' shall prohibit, on insufficient grounds and for reasons not justified, access to strangers in need and honest, unless there are reasons of public interest, weighed with the utmost scruple " .

At the spiritual level, the Constitution calls for the establishment of a ministry specifically for migrants, with recourse to priests of the same language or the same nationality as migrants, against the trend toward assimilation immediate .

The period of Vatican II

In the early 1960s, migration has escalated, with the statement of the principle of free movement in the Treaty of Rome and the impact of decolonization ; developed countries are experiencing strong economic growth and attract a large labor of foreign labor.

The Encyclical Pacem in Terris , published on ¹ April 1963 by Pope John XXIII , is addressed for the first time not only to Catholics but to "all men of good will." The right to emigrate is solemnly confirmed: "Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the political community of which he is a citizen, he also has the right, upon reasonable grounds, to visit abroad and settle there. Not belonging to a particular political community can not prevent anyone from being, as a member of the human family, a citizen of this universal community in which all men are brought together by common bonds. . It is therefore the pope is a human right founded on the idea of universal brotherhood.

Some years later, the constitution Gaudium et Spes of Vatican II is also based on the concept of dignity of the human person to seek to prevent migrants living conditions are unstable or insecure, as well as discrimination in pay or working conditions .

On 15 August 1969, Paul VI publishes a motu proprio Pastoralis migratorum cura which is followed by an instruction from the Congregation for Bishops Pastoral migratorum cura August 22. These texts have referred primarily pastoral and reject the assimilation tendencies. He is asked local communities to be alert to the situation and rights of all immigrants and to recognize the place of traditions, cultures and languages of foreign communities .

Instruction Erga Caritas Christi

This is a reference document produced by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People to update the doctrine of the Church about the evolution of migration in a context of globalization. Instruction Erga migrantes caritas Christi (The love of Christ towards migrants) is approved on ¹ May 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI , shortly after his election.

It recalls that foreign workers are neither goods nor mere factors of production and demand recognition of their contribution to the economy of the host country. He denounces the deprivation of basic rights, such as the one to organize , even the phenomena of human trafficking and slavery. The text calls for a home abroad in the full sense, supporting family reunification and the right to education of children. It also encourages laymen to seek civil laws that achieve these goals and to do everything in their power to ensure that aliens' rights are respected. The text stresses the importance of religious dialogue, including with Muslim immigrants.

The statement calls finally a positive view of migration as it allows Christians to "become conscious of being called again and again to be a sign of fraternity and communion in the world with their respect for differences and practice Solidarity in an ethics of encounter " .

The annual messages

Actions

The World Day of Migrants and Refugees

Established in 1914 by Pope Benedict XV established a "Day of the Emigrant" whose date is fixed freely by each diocese. It will become the "World Day of Migrants and Refugees", whose objective is that Christians are aware of their duties and their responsibilities in supporting work for migrants. Since November 2004, the day is celebrated on a single date for the whole Church the second Sunday after the Epiphany .

Support for asylum seekers and refugees

Several associations of network Caritas Internationalis intervene for the benefit of asylum seekers or refugees , for example in France the CEDAR , which is a branch of Catholic Relief specializes in this area of intervention.

Their action may be located upstream, for consulting services to migrants before they leave their country. It may also be in the host country by legal or administrative assistance and activities that encourage integration, such as language courses. The community of Sant'Egidio has established a school for teaching the language of the host country that brought 55,000 students in Italy since its inception in 1982 . Finally assistance is provided to migrants returning home, especially those who were denied asylum.

Actions to curb civil legislation

Associations with foreigners, especially from the 1980s , denounce and fight hardening of the successive acts of repression of illegal immigration. Thus, in France, the terms of family reunification , arrest and detention of illegal aliens, the existence of a " crime of solidarity " have been reported.

Where it matters, the Catholic press plays the role of relay. In Italy, newspapers such as La Famiglia Cristiana or Avvenire (official organ of the Italian bishops) have denounced government plans to pointing of Roma and other projects hardening anti-immigration legislation, supported in particular by the league North. They also bemoan the lack of humanity of government to the deaths of illegal immigrants seeking to reach Italy by boat, as well as numerous local anti-begging ^, .

Some actions nonviolent are proposed. Thus, in France, since 2007, a network of circles of silence , created at the initiative of the Franciscans in Toulouse, intends to develop an awareness and protest against the imprisonment of illegal aliens, and against prison conditions themselves . The movement claims more than 115 clubs and 10,000 participants .

Bishops often turns these initiatives in diocesan publications or joint statements, or attack head on a law they consider dangerous. This is for example the case in France in 2009 with the "crime of solidarity" ^, . It is also the case in the United States in 2010 to mark the passing of a controversial law in Arizona , allowing drastic controls on mere presumption ^, . Elections, the conferences of bishops also remind the faithful of the general principles to which they should be open. Thus, during the 2007 presidential election in France has published a document entitled "What is thy brother?" .

Reception and criticism

United States, the Roman Catholic Church has been accused of defending the cause of immigrants to appear more modern, or follow the fashion of political correctness , and consistency of Church teaching on this issue is often ignored .

Clandestine arrival in Lampedusa.

In Italy, the Catholic bishops and the press on the one hand and government on the other hand have clashed violently on the issue of immigration, particularly in connection with a government project of pointing of Roma ^, . The conflict will reach its climax with the resignation of Dino Boffo , director of Avvenire , implicated in a slanderous way sex scandal by his colleague Vittorio Feltri of Il Giornale , the Berlusconi family newspaper . Feltri will eventually shrink and will be sentenced to six months of suspension by the Bar Council of Italian journalists .

References

See also

Related articles

• Social Doctrine of the Church
• Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
• Circle of silence
• World Day of Migrants and Refugees

• Catholicism portal

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