Pope to Migration Commission:
Dialogue essential to end suffering
Pope Francis on Thursday met members of the International
Catholic Migration Commission on the occasion of their Plenary Council.
In prepared remarks to members of the Commission in the
Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Pope Francis expressed his thanks to them for their
work carried out in the Church’s name to assist migrants and refugees in great
need. The multiple projects initiated on five continents, he said represented
“exemplary instances of the four verbs – welcome, defend, promote and
integrate.”
The Pope underlined that “today as in the past, liberating
the poor, the oppressed and the persecuted is an integral part of the mission
entrusted by God to the Church.”
The Pontiff noted that much had changed since the Commission
was established in 1951. Needs have grown ever more complex, he said,
“tools for responding ever more sophisticated, and your service increasingly
professional.”
Inspiring action
The Pope expressed the hope that their work would “continue
to inspire local Churches to do all they can for persons forced to leave their
home countries and who, all too often, become victims of dishonesty, violence
and abuse of every sort.”
Open and sincere dialogue
In order to set free those who today are oppressed, rejected
and enslaved, the Pope stressed that it was “essential to promote open and
sincere dialogue with government leaders, a dialogue, he added, that takes into
account people’s actual experiences, sufferings and aspirations, in order to
remind everyone once more of his or her responsibilities.”
He went on to say that, “the processes set in motion by the international
community for a global agreement on refugees, and another for safe, orderly and
regulated migration, represent a privileged forum for implementing such
dialogue.”
The work continues
The work is not over, Pope Francis concluded, “together, he said,
we must encourage countries to coordinate more suitable and effective responses
to the challenges posed by issues of migration; and we can do this on the basis
of the essential principles of the Church’s social teaching.”
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét