Pontifical Counsil for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

XV Plenary Session

“The Church’s Mission to Tourism”

Bishop Salvatore Boccaccio
Bishop of Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino
Italy

A new pastoral document carefully prepared by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People bears the title “Guidelines for Pastoral Care in Tourism”. The document is composed of 36 items arranged in three parts (Part I “Tourism today”; Part II “Pastoral Objectives”; Part III “Pastoral Structures”), preceded by an introduction and followed by a conclusion.

The document was published on the 29^th June 2001, the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul.

The origin and purpose of the new document

The document is the outcome of long and laborious reflection, the joint effort of experts and workers in the pastoral field, who contributed many varied contributions. The declared intention was to update the General Directory for Pastoral Care in Tourism “Peregrinans in terra” published by the Congregation for the Clergy on 30th April 1969.

The Directory owed its shape and form to the extraordinary theological period that followed the Second Vatican Council, a period widely marked by a new understanding of the Church as a mystery of communion and mission. This new understanding was furthered by a more pertinent vision of salvation, now seen from the historical and anthropological point of view, inspired by a growing realisation that everything centres on the word of God. This extraordinary patrimony can be seen especially in the perspective opened up by the Pastoral Constitution “Gaudium et Spes”, in particular in Part III, which calls urgently for a new harmony “between culture and Christian formation” (cf. No. 62), between understanding of the faith and human activities including those in “leisure time” (cf. No. 61) “in order to humanise them and imbue them with a Christian spirit” (ibidem).

The Council naturally looked at tourism in connection with culture, placing the pastoral question raised by tourism in the context of the “inculturation of the faith”. Today this reference appears almost “prophetic” as it enables us to look at things with understanding and precision and guarantees a clearly defined area in the field of “practical theology”, thus making the Church’s pastoral work well adapted and motivated.

The General Directory itself drew fully on the Council’s vision, seeing characteristics pertaining to man’s way of salvation in various phenomena connected with tourism. Nevertheless its overall evaluation of tourism is ingenuous; it leaves us with an over-optimistic judgement on the regenerating potentialities of tourism both for the individual and for society in general.

An updating of the Directory had become necessary owing to the changed conditions of society today and also because the Church, in its aim to create favourable conditions for evangelisation, had acquired a better understanding of the phenomena that follow on social and cultural developments.

For this and other reasons a thorough rethinking of the Directory was called for. What was needed was a better informed and more prudent assessment of tourism on the one hand and a more demanding and critical theological outlook on the other, making opportune use of the recent teaching of the Supreme Pontiffs, of theology itself and pastoral practice.

In fact the new document “Guidelines for pastoral care in tourism” sets out with all due modesty to offer simple “reflections and pastoral criteria” responding “to the new circumstances” (No. 1) of the phenomenon of tourism. The characteristics shown by tourism today can be summed up as follows: an increase in the number of tourists amounting to “hundreds of millions” (No. 2); the involvement of great numbers of active “personnel” (workers, promoters, administrators, etc.); a far-reaching influence on society, culture and economics; consequent dangers of moral, ecological and economic degeneration.

In view of all this the document constitutes an urgent appeal to the Churches for a more suitable, competent and speedy pastoral approach, calling on bishops, priests, religious and the laity to “practise evangelisation in this specific field of today’s society” (No. 2).

We will now go on to examine the topics dealt with by the document, pointing out the logical development of its arguments both in analysing the situation, reviewing the prospects and dealing with organisation.

1. How the Church sees Tourism (Nos. 3-17)

The Church’s understanding of tourism is expressed in the first part of the document, which is entitled “Tourism today”; it deals with four topics: leisure time, people, society and theology, which constitute a basic framework and at the same time help establish values.

These four criteria do not actually correspond to categories used by the social sciences but to “values” through which the Church can get to work. Obviously the Church looks at tourism through its own eyes and seeks to understand what lies behind man, culture, integration and what goes beyond practical realities. In effect the Church endeavours to bring to the surface and make clear the hidden but ascertainable significance of the movement born of modern society that we know as “tourism”. The Church does so in virtue of its mission as an “expert in humanity”, an educator of man, the herald of the salvation of mankind of every age in the present moment of history.

1.1. Tourism as a leisure time activity (Nos. 5-6)

The modern age is characterised by the phenomenon of leisure time, which must be distinguished from the otium of the classical epoch, typical of a civilisation based on clearly defined hierarchies determined by a person’s work and his social standing. Leisure time is therefore of recent origin and is closely linked to the change from an agricultural to an industrial and post-industrial society. Leisure time, a typically western phenomenon, is not without ambiguity because it comes a poor second to work, which always predominates, and because there has been but little theoretical study about its nature and its purpose.

With regard to “the possibility of personal fulfilment and room for creativity” (No. 6) leisure time should contribute to the autonomy and full dignity of the human person. To achieve this an enormous sense of responsibility is required. Tourism acquires value if it helps free the human person, if it gives answers to the questions raised by modern culture and if it overcomes the prevailing temptations to nihilism, consumerism and aestheticism.

1.2. Tourism in the service of the human person (Nos. 7-10)

The Church looks favourably on everything that increases and perfects the life of the human person, an absolute value that cannot be ignored in any activity. In this connection tourism can be judged as a valuable opportunity, offered by modern developments in national and international relations and economic circumstances, for a higher level of knowledge and well-being.

What contribution does tourism make to the person? Above all it affords time for getting to know oneself better thanks to what is generally called “rest”. Rest means quietly relaxing in oneself and with oneself, free from tiring activities, being able to contemplate oneself and the world with the inner eye of disenchantment. An authentic “feeling of rest” also affords more immediate contact with both nature and the products of culture, a contact of creature to creature that excludes mythical elements. Such an attitude can establish rich relationships of wonder, knowledge, perception and an amazed awareness of the greatness of God and the genius of man; it requires however a sound spiritual and cultural preparation.

Unfortunately under the pressure of tourism both nature and culture run the risk of being ruined. Absolute respect for the human person and what he has created therefore demands a sense of responsibility falling not only on tourists themselves but also on local communities and on the institutions set up to safeguard the common good.

A genuine and prolonged cultural dialogue between all those involved is necessary to avoid risks of tyranny, neocolonialism and the exploitation of nature and culture for purely economic and commercial purposes.

1.3. Tourism in the economic and social forces of globalisation (Nos. 11-13)

The spread of so-called mass tourism means not only profound changes in people’s way of life, it also causes new problems of personal and social justice, the correct economic rate of growth, a balanced development of material wealth, ethic growth, professional quality and ecological impact. A harmonious balance of all these elements necessitates the implementation of principles and criteria that demand a strict personal and communal ethic sense, the ability to harmonise rights and duties, legitimate demands and inviolable limits. It is a question of coming to an arrangement in which different factors can interact: interests left unsaid, feelings and ideals not openly declared, aims and purposes often kept hidden.

These complex social and economic contexts are often characterised by improvisation and uncontrolled disorder. Here a code of behaviour must be re-established based on the principles of sustainable development, co-responsibility and observance of the rules so as to avoid unfairness, abuses, exploitation and illicit trafficking. In this respect special critical attention should be paid to the process of globalisation in the macroeconomics of tourism in order to safeguard the specific culture of each region or nation, prevent the transfer of financial resources and elaborate just and mutually respectful plans for intervention, furthering the development of knowledge and information.

1.4. For a shrewd understanding of tourism (Nos. 14-17)

We cannot ask the Bible for a clear word on tourism. The Church, which is the servant of the Word and at the same time its authoritative interpreter, helps us to discover in tourism “certain central aspects of the history of salvation”. What we have to do is to read the Word in a way that leads us to discover God’s wonders by living a tourism completely transformed by a spiritual sense that excavates the gold-mine of revelation to bring to light the treasures God lavishes on man.

This perspective – which is actually more theological than exegetic – is the starting point for a reflection on three topics that indicate how tourism can be lived in a Christian manner: the beauty of the creation as a reflection of the beauty of the Creator; the paschal event of Christ, who frees and saves all humanity, making it one with Him; the coming of the Spirit, who opens up joyous horizons through the proximity of our final home.

Tourism contains therefore an allusion; it is a part of life which if well directed furthers our union with God, known as the Creator and Redeemer, recognised and glorified as the Lord of heaven and earth. But another aspect of tourism is union among men, fellow travellers of one another on the way to the heavenly Jerusalem, to “a new heaven and a new earth” (Acts 21,1).

2. The Church's Mission in Tourism (Nos. 18-30)

If the Church’s analysis of the complex and varied phenomenon of tourism is realistic, it is easy to understand what strategy the Church must employ if tourism is to promote the full development of the human person, bringing his identity and purpose to perfection in the natural context of the community.

The Church’s aim is to make tourism “human”, so that it cultivates what man has achieved during centuries of civilisation, promotes solidarity and peace and directs man to use earthly goods in view of the heavenly goods he will finally enjoy. But what can be done so that the “idling” experience of tourism can achieve these ends?

The document offers outlines to work on and rightly appeals in the first instance to pastoral care in tourism, which it looks upon as something known and taken for granted. It defines its purpose as “the promotion of the most favourable conditions to help a Christian live tourism as a time of grace and salvation”; this pastoral care must centre on the heart of the Christian community, the parish.

The Church’s first proposal is therefore to create the right instrument for its activity in the field of tourism, which is of course “pastoral care in tourism”, and this becomes in effect the focal point of the new document.

This second part bears the title “Pastoral objectives”. It has three subdivisions: Welcoming; Living tourism as a Christian; Cooperation between Church and society. They represent the ways in which the Church carries out its mission in the vast field of tourism.

As with the four paragraphs of Part I we will now briefly analyse the three paragraphs of Part II.

2.1 Welcoming in the name of Christ (Nos. 19-21)

Since the very beginnings of pastoral care in tourism the act of welcoming has always been the Church’s main commitment and today represents the quintessence of its work in tourism. The act of welcoming begins and spreads out from the central point of the Church’s ministry, the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. In it there is the sacramental and glorious presence of Christ who died and rose again and who brings together his scattered children in unity. It is therefore Christ Himself who welcomes, calls, speaks and gives Himself, while the Church only repeats in faith the words and gestures of our Lord.

But this sacramental and mystical welcome is multiplied and manifested in a thousand other ways typical of the Church’s activity, especially its loving care, in the field of tourism. From time to time its welcome can take on the form of ecumenical commitment, missionary activity, the offering of the Church’s religious, cultural and artistic patrimony, its traditions and the devotions of popular piety.

The true picture of the Church at work in tourism is therefore seen in its act of welcoming. It is its most meaningful sign, its way of being open to all, at the service of people, caring for people – those who do not belong to the Church or are on the edge of religion – who have no other possibility of meeting our Lord. Here the Church is carrying out its true mission, that of offering the world our Lord, its only Saviour.

A very special form of welcome must be reserved for those visiting shrines and sacred places, to which the Pontifical Council has given special attention in a document entitled “The shrine, memorial, presence and prophecy of the living God” (8^th May 1999).

2.2 Christian vision and action in tourism (Nos. 22-29)

This second paragraph of Part II is longer and has more subdivisions than the others. It is a praiseworthy effort to look with the eyes of faith at the multiple types of tourism so as to offer a Christian vision and encourage those engaged in the field to give active witness. What matters especially is to evolve a complex and suitable plan of evangelisation and human promotion, centring on those actively involved and on tourist institutions. This must take into account the diverse situations obtaining in tourism, the different types of persons engaged in the field and the various geographical areas of tourist development; taking all these factors into account a complex and relevant plan of evangelisation and human promotion has to be worked out centring on the persons working in tourism and on tourist institutions.

The main matter is simple enough to express but not easy to put into practice, namely how can tourism be lived in a Christian manner. The following questions illustrate what this means: What is an adequate response to the grace offered by a period of rest and tourism? What ethics dominate in tourism? How can the family, young people and old people be educated to live tourism in the light of faith? How can economics and commerce, both of great importance in tourism, be brought into line with the Church’s social teaching so that they show due respect for the person, local culture, the care of the creation and just sharing of wealth? How can tourist programs be made to conform to the requirements of truth, openness and correct information? How can guides and animators carry out their profession in accordance with the Christian view of things? And, finally, how can entrepreneurs and workers in tourism carry out their varied and complementary commitments with full respect for catholic morals and a just distinction of rights and duties?

The prospects and problems thus outlined show the vast field of possible pastoral intervention in tourism but also the difficulty of mastering the subject and bringing everything together in a single project. This is an open challenge and only the Church in its wisdom can find the suitable means, forms and language to direct it in accordance with the plan of salvation of the Lord of history.

2.3 In the service of the common good (No. 30)

The Church’s presence in tourism is not limited to offering tourists the means of worship or providing charitable aid for those in need. These are specific fields of the Church’s activity that can never be given up and they arouse the Church’s solicitude in very situation, but with regard to the world of tourism the Church carries out a more particular kind of activity because of its openness to developments in this field. As its title “Guidelines for Pastoral Care in Tourism” suggests, the document we are considering is a reliable guide to a good understanding of the problems and for the elaboration of the Church’s program.

The way ahead is long and has in part still to be explored. We are still at the beginning and in this new field of debate offered by the modern world the Church must realise how urgent it is to launch out into the deep (cf. Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter Novo millennio ineunte, 6^th January 2001), launch out with courage and sure hope, trusting only in our Lord’s words “Go and preach the gospel to all nations” (cf. Mt 28,19).