Cardinal Czerny: IDPs must be
recognized and supported
 |
| Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, Under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section (file photo) |
At a press conference introducing the new “Pastoral
Orientations on Internally Displaced Persons”, Cardinal Michael Czerny says the
contribution of internally displaced persons (IDPs) will be needed in the
post-Covid-19 world that is emerging.
By Vatican News
“From the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has
been encouraging and urging and showing the Church to accompany all people who
in one way or another are forced to flee”, according to Cardinal Michael
Czerny, S.J., the under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section (M&R)
at the Vatican.
The Cardinal was speaking at a press conference at the Holy
See Press Office on Tuesday, where he presented new “Pastoral Orientations on
Internally Displaced Persons”, published Tuesday on the M&R website.
Pope Francis’ commitment to serving “vulnerable persons on
the move” led to the establishment of the Migrants & Refugees Section,
which began its activity in 2017.
The work of the Migrants and Refugees Section
Since that time, Cardinal Czerny said, M&R has produced
numerous resources aimed at assisting those who serve men, women, and children
who are forced to leave their homes. These resources include a list of Pastoral
Action Points for use by organizations caring for migrants and refugees in 2017
and, a year later, Pastoral Orientations on Human Trafficking.
In 2019, M&R again held consultations “with church
leaders and partner organizations with practitioners and Scholars working in
the field” of internal displacement, Cardinal Czerny said, leading to the
Pastoral Orientations on Internally Displaced Persons presented on Tuesday.
He emphasized that the document on IDPs is part of "a
series of responses" given by M&R. With each intervention, the Section
addresses one particular segment of "the overall population of vulnerable
people on the move, and focus on their situation, their needs, how the Church
is actually responding, and how we could respond better".
Nourished by Church teaching and action
The roots of the new guidelines can be found in the teaching
office and the pastoral action of the Church, said Father Fabio Baggio, C.S.,
who is also an under-secretary in M&R:
“The Pastoral Guidelines on Internally Displaced Persons are
nourished by the richness of the universal and local Magisterium and by the
long pastoral tradition of the actions that the Church, in different parts of
the world, has undertaken for the benefit of these inhabitants of the
existential peripheries”.
Assisting IDPs during the pandemic
Cardinal Czerny noted that the new guidelines, like previous
productions, have been “approved by the Holy Father”. He said they are meant
“to guide the Church’s ministry to IDPs in planning and practical engagement,
in advocacy and dialogue”.
The Cardinal also noted the special significance of the
Pastoral Orientations during the coronavirus emergency: “In this time of
pandemic, the virus does not seem distinguish between those who are important
and those who are invisible, those who are settled and those who are displaced:
everyone is vulnerable, and each infection is a danger to everyone”.
In these circumstance, he continued, it is important for
IDPs to be “recognized and supported, promoted and eventually re-integrated, so
that they can once again play an active, constructive role in their country,
even if powerful causes - both natural and unjust human causes - have forced
them to flee from home and take refuge somewhere else”.
“In the post-Covid-19 world that is emerging,” he added,
“their contribution will be very much needed”.
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