Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

People on the Move

N° 108, December 2008

SECIS Symposium on the theme “Drinking of other wells – spirituality and international students”* 

The 2008 Meeting of SECIS (Service of the European Churches for International Students) took place at the OBSG Chaplaincy in Ghent between 10^th 12^th July 2008. The OSBG and the Club ‘Van Eyck’ is the chaplaincy for international students associated with the University of Ghent.

This year there were eight persons present (including myself and the treasurer of SECIS), representing five European countries – Belgium (2), Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

The first day was given over to administrative work and elections, which proved not to be easy due to the lack of participants. Eventually, a new board of three persons was co-opted for the successive year. Father Pierre Devos SJ will now succeed as President some time in the future.  Some conversation was also undertaken as to the present situation, the lack of response and to the future. The financial situation  was expressed as fairly healthy with assets of nearly €15,000.

The message of support and welcome from Archbishop Agostino Marchetto at the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People was given, along with a copy of the recent letter sent to Bishops Conferences following the the message of the Holy Father for the 94^th World Day for Migrants and Refugees. These were received enthusiastically.

Dr Hermann Weber extended an invitation to gather in Bonn next year from 9^th - 11^th  July, with the topic of the meeting being: "Higher Education as commodity? - pastoral challenge for our work with international students".

Dr Weber also outlined some of the recent celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of KAAD, illustrating his talk with photographs of the various events.

The Second day hosted two key note speakers on the theme,  “Drinking of other wells – spirituality and international students”.  The first speaker was Professor Paul Van Cauwenberge, Rector of the University of Ghent.  He began by outlining the changing face of the University of Ghent, with particular concern to the admission and care of international students. Ghent, being the second largest University in Belgium now hosted 2,400 foreign students through exchange programmes such as the various Erasmus schemes and through research projects. Particular attention was made to countries such as Serbia, Kosovo, Herzegovina, Albania and Bosnia. He drew attention to the desire for many to now learn through the English language.  Whilst this benefited many foreign students it also meant that integration into the larger Flemish speaking community could, at times, be difficult. The university was now taking much more seriously the pastoral needs of international students, by allocating portions of its accommodation especially for those who were from abroad. Of interest was SPOC (Single Point Of Contact), whereby all the separate and different agencies that facilitated International students now worked together.

The second speaker of the morning was the Bishop of Ghent, Mgr Luc Van Looy. He spoke particularly about the value of education drawing a difference between that and mere learning. As this was also the feast of Saint Benedict, he used the three vows of stability, conversion and obedience to illustrate his theme. He then went on to express four key words which were important for “drinking at the same wellÂ’: identity, education, freedom and conscience. He spoke also (under the heading of freedom) about the importance of dialogue.  The two interventions were followed by a reception and lunch.

During the later part of afternoon the group toured the cathedral, viewing the Van Eyck ‘Adoration of the Mystic Lamb’. This was followed by Mass in the private chapel of the diocesan bishop.

The last day, Saturday, was the opportunity for some of the participants to give their respective reports. A written version of which will appear in the official report of the symposium. Some interesting themes emerged from the discussions, particularly regarding national and local commitment by the Church to the pastoral care of foreign students. Also the implementation of the Bologna process meant that for many the workload had increased, time was shorter and there was now less commitment to outside interests, both social and religious. The increasing loss of the holistic dimension of education was voiced as a concern. The issue of a specific pastoral care for international students as opposed to a general one, was also discussed. There was a clear tension experienced between the two. The issue of the break up of student catholic communities, due to a culture of individualism, new movements and the work itself, was also examined. A further discussion was held as how to proceed for the future with SECIS, especially in the building up of further contacts that are also committed to its aims and future existence. Finally thanks was expressed to Canon Charles de Hemptinne and his collaborators for their extremely generous hospitality, and in particular also for the support  and commitment also of Bishop Van Looy during the days of the symposium. The final day finished with Mass in the new Chapel of OSBG. 

Rev. Jeremy Fairhead

Official of the Pontifical Council

for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People