|
|
|
|
|
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People People on the MoveN° 110, August 2009
MESSAGE TO THE PARTICIPANTS AT THE SymposiumÂÂLet us take care of spirituallife of Polish migrantsÂÂ(5 years after the publication of Erga migrants caritas Christi) - Poland, Poznan, 14th -15th October 2009 -
Dear Brothers in Christ, With this message we would like to express our spiritual communion and good wishes for every success of the Symposium which will be held in Poznan on the 14th ÂÂ 15th October 2009, focusing on the theme ÂÂLet us take care of the spiritual life of Polish migrants (five years after the publication of Erga migrantes caritas Christi)ÂÂ, organized by the Institute for the Pastoral Care of Migrants. First of all we send our greetings to His Eminence Cardinal Jozef Glemp, Archbishop Emeritus of Warsaw, Primate of Poland and Protector of the Polish Migration, who continues to work tirelessly in the vineyard of the Lord. We also greet all the members of the Society of Christ, thanking them for the wonderful apostolic work in favour of Polish migrants in the world and for their precious twenty-five year management of the Institute for the Pastoral Care in Poznan. Special regards to the whole Staff of the Institute, particularly to the Director, Father Wieslaw Wójicik, S.Chr., and all the participants at this Symposium and all the participants at this Symposium. For more than a century, Poland has been one of the largest sources of manpower for countries in Western Europe and North America. Throughout all this time, the Catholic Church in Poland has journeyed courageously, fruitfully and with a strong solidarity with Polish migrants. Thus, the Polish Catholic Mission is one of the pillars that have supported and sustained this adventure, along with the Society of Christ. Missionaries, religious and other pastoral agents have shown great enthusiasm and compassion for the huge diaspora community of migrant Polish workers abroad. Schools, kindergartens, rest homes, gathering centres, places of worship are an eloquent and impressive witness of the ChurchÂÂs care to Polish migrants abroad. Catholic Polish missions have set their action on the cultural component of Poland as an important means to preserve and nurture the faith in Jesus Christ. For a migrant, faith is not only devotion or tradition, but a dynamism that will advance and overcome difficulties of every kind: it is a true engine of human life. At the turn of the Third Millennium, the Society of Christ, together with many other priests, continues to present to Polish migrants faith as the most important and essential element in life. The value of the Catholic faith, which flows forth from a 2000 year tradition of the Church, has to be proclaimed in the new conditions of our time. As is well known, the Church has always cared for those who have left their homelands: the Apostolic Constitution Exsul Familia (1952), based on the ChurchÂÂs centuries-long experience in the phenomenon of migration, is considered a magna charta that would guide the pastoral care for this category of people; the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council gave concrete directives that would be included Pope Paul VI's Motu proprio Pastoralis Migratorum Cura (1969) and in the related Pastoral Instruction De Pastorali Migratorum Cura in the same year. In the same vein, thirty-five years later, in 2004, our Pontifical Council issued the Instruction Erga migrantes caritas Christi (EMCC) as a response that the Church offers to the challenges and risks presented by today's phenomena of migration. Through this documentation and in her service, the Church wishes to be there where the migrants are, to share with them the joys and the hopes, as well as the grief and the pains of migration. Humanitarian aid and solidarity, social action and advocacy, training and Christian formation are all part of Church's ministry among those involved in human mobility. In this context, EMCC puts emphasis on the building up of an authentic culture of welcome to migrants, ÂÂbased on love for Christ, in the certainty that good done out of love of God to one's neighbor, especially the neediest, is done to Him" (cf. no. 38; nos. 49-55); makes an appeal to all to defend migrants when their rights are trampled upon; makes use of "advocacy" (cf. no. 6 EMCC). Moreover, the Document warns against the perennial danger of migrants becoming victims of the sad phenomenon of human trafficking, which no longer spares even children, particularly in this era of globalization, where women and girls are increasingly becoming part of the phenomenon. Migrant women and childrenÂÂs rights need to be closely safeguarded. The Document calls for an accompaniment of potential migrants in their decision-making process and a preparation for migrant life abroad. It is important to provide migrants with correct information regarding the possible destination countries: their laws, and not only labour legislation, their customs, religious traditions, the existing condition regarding freedom and democracy, etc. Another point of importance is the disposition of migrants to dialogue. The most common and most direct way of undertaking dialogue is through life, with simple everyday gestures of respect, solidarity, fraternity and love, among people who belong to different Churches and Ecclesial Communities, religions and cultures (cf. no. 69 EMCC). In this era of globalization, there is no doubt that, in her pastoral care for migrants, the Church will continue to promote cooperation among local Churches (cf. nos. 70-79). Thus, while it is the task of the Church in the country of destination to offer pastoral care to all the faithful in its territory, it is important for migrants during the first and second generation to be accompanied by priests or other pastoral agents who are from the same country, have a cultural background linking them with, or have carried out missionary activities in their country of origin. This cultural and linguistic proximity is of great importance in helping them live and grow in the faith and face, as Christians, all the vicissitudes they may encounter in their new life in the country of destination. In conclusion, we hope that this Symposium will help the Church in Poland to cope up with the pastoral challenges of todayÂÂs Polish migrants in the whole world. It is also our hope that Polish people abroad will be understood and accepted as brothers and sisters, so that todayÂÂs migration may truly be transformed into a call, although a mysterious one, to build up the Kingdom of God, and an instrument of Providence to further the unity of human family in peace. We wish you a rewarding pastoral action among Polish migrants in a spirit of loving service and prayer, trusting in the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Częstochowa so dear to the Polish people. May God bless you!
|
 |