Pontifical Counsil for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

XV Plenary Session

Conclusions

During the 15^th Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, which took place from 29^th April to 1^st May in the Vatican, the Members and Consultors reflected on the pastoral opportunities and challenges arising from the world of human mobility that is intimately bound up with the vastness of the sea and on the means to address them. Grateful to the Holy Father for his encouragement to recognize the many opportunities to bring the presence of Christ the Good Shepherd and his Good News into the roads and sea lanes of humanity as well as to promote respect for the dignity of the individuals, families, environment, and cultures that are linked to the sea, we publish the following conclusions:

1. Human mobility is an increased feature of globalisation. Because of this there are new barriers and challenges to be faced, in which God also offers us new pastoral possibilities. The Church must accept these new challenges by being the good Samaritan on the roads and sea lanes of humanity, promoting solidarity in migration, likewise through the exercise of charity.
   1. Taking into consideration the theme of our Plenary, “Relationships between Sea and Migration and between Sea and Tourism,” the sea stands out as the means of transportation in a new era of migration uniting people of all continents in fraternity, dialogue, and commerce but, at the same time, provoking xenophobic and even racist reactions, when it carries asylum-seekers and migrants, and hiding the daily human drama of seafarers and fisher folk.
   2. Tourism – on the shores and at sea -- is also constantly increasing as a feature of globalization, again with positive and negative aspects for the people and places that host tourists and for these visitors themselves.
2. Since human mobility is by definition a phenomenon of movement and change that expands almost uncontrollably beyond usually conceived boundaries, cooperation and solidarity on the international and regional levels needs to be newly emphasized. That applies also to the Church, whose Lord likewise calls every one of her members to promote communion, solidarity, and cooperation, especially in this field, among particular and local Churches as well as in the ecumenical and inter-religious arena.
3. Evermore evangelization in the Third Millennium demands renewed thrust and pastoral planning according to the letter and the spirit of Novo Millennio Ineunte. In the growing world of tourism, that means assuring the Pilgrim Church is present, to make tourism more worthy of human beings, breathing a new spirit into it, offering occasions for new encounters with God and brothers and sisters of other cultures and religions. In this way tourism will contribute to the dialogue among civilizations. This could be considered a kind of new evangelization, in which the lay faithful will have special responsibilities, also with the contribution of the ecclesial movements.
4. The Church in a globalized world is called in every way to intensify its role as promoter and animator of solidarity and respect for human dignity and fundamental rights, which are so often threatened also by new forms of slavery and exploitation. This role likewise extends to regard for cultures and cultural identities , sacred places, including those of other religions, and the environment.
5. The Pontifical Council, with renewed vigor, will take the lead in promoting solicitude for and animation of the pastoral “structures” in the service of migrants, people involved in tourism, the maritime world and other people on the move by

• facilitating the implementation of the Apostolic Letter Motu proprio Stella Maris (1997) on the Maritime Apostolate, and of the Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of Tourism, especially in cooperation with Episcopal Conferences;
• offering, in dialogue with other competent Dicasteries, instruments of formation for old and new pastoral agents in the field of human mobility;
• completing the project of revising the Instructio de pastorali migratorum cura.