Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

People on the Move

N° 103 (Suppl.), April 2007

THE SITUATION OF

FOREIGN STUDENTS IN THE WORLD

(an overview, the result of an inquiry)

Rev. Can. Charles DE HEMPTINNE

synthesis of the following questionnaire responses

• Belgium

• Britain and Ireland (Churches Commission on International Students) C.T.B.I.

  + England and Wales (Sister Mauraid Mauran)

• Canada

• France + MIEC 

• Germany (Response to the questionnaire by the KAAD) 

  + Process of internationalization by Dr. Hermann Weber

• Holy See (Fondazione “Nostra Aetate”)

• Ireland

• Maghreb

• (The) Netherlands

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• USA

Father Chris McCoy m’a confié confidentiellement un rapport réalisé dernièrement en Angleterre sur la pastorale en milieu estudiantin. Le titre en est : « Dancing on the Edge ».

(Isa: secis/synthesisquest)

• Let us first say a word of thanks. “A toi Seigneur, toi honneur”, as the French saying goes. Let us indeed first express our very sincere gratitude to the “Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants” who has organized this “II World Congress for the Pastoral Care of International Students”. It was some 10 years ago^[1] that the first World Congress was held and gave a new enthusiasm to all those who were involved in the work of “social and pastoral care” for international students. Let us pray, in this Advent-time 2005, that the Holy Spirit may give once more a renewed impulse to our pastoral and social work for the international students!

• In order to make a link between the “First World Congress”, on the one hand, and the “Second World Congress”, on the other, let us recall some passages of the letter that Pope John Paul II sent from Castel Gandolfo at the end of the “First World Congress”, on 16^th September 1996:

« Le premier Congrès mondial de la pastorale auprès des étudiants étrangers, constitue une nouvelle preuve de l’attention de l’Eglise aux étudiants étrangers. Il apparaît en effet nécessaire de passer des interventions d’urgence dispersées^[2], à la formulation d’un plan d’assistance sociale et pastorale capable de répondre à leurs besoins et leurs attentes.

Une caractéristique de ce projet est qu’il comporte l’engagement à accueillir. La communauté ecclésiale veut, dans un souci de disponibilité et d’amitié, aller à la rencontre des étudiants de n’importe quelle origine, en prenant sincèrement à cœur leur réussite humaine et professionnelle. En même temps, elle veut assumer la responsabilité spécifique qu’elle a envers les étudiants chrétiens, en qui elle voit autant de frères que la Communauté d’origine lui confie. Les jeunes immigrés, qui se reconnaissent partie de l’Eglise, doivent avoir un accès effectif à ses initiatives et à ses services.

L’enjeu de ce processus d’accueil et d’aide aux étudiants étrangers est de grande importance. Il en va non seulement de leur maturité humaine et professionnelle, mais aussi de la crédibilité des Eglises plus anciennes aux yeux des jeunes Eglises des Pays en voie de développement.

Les étudiants des pays en voie de développement, qui se sont perfectionnés à l’étranger, peuvent offrir, grâce à leur préparation professionnelle, l’impulsion nécessaire pour sortir leur pays du sous-développement. Investir dans leur formation est, par conséquent, une des formes de coopération à privilégier.

Il est important que les étudiants eux-mêmes soient conscients des responsabilités qu’ils ont envers leur patrie. Une des clés de son développement est entre leurs mains : qu’ils ne se soustraitent pas à telles responsabilités^[3] ! Qu’ils ne privent pas leur patrie des compétences qu’ils ont acquises en tant que médecins, ingénieurs, agronomes, experts dans l’un ou l’autre champ de la vie en société.

En tant que Chrétiens, ceux-ci ne peuvent pas ne pas sentir l’engagement à faire un choix évangélique pour le service des pauvres, devenant ainsi des pierres vivantes de la Communauté qui les a engendrés à la foi. Dans cette perspective, ceux-ci s’occuperont avec soin de leur propre perfectionnement culturel et de leur formation spirituelle, pour être des agents de paix et des messagers d’un monde plus uni, davantage réconcilié et plus libre^[4].

J’exhorte, enfin les agents pastoraux à poursuivre^[5] avec détermination leur service dans le milieu particulièrement sensible d’évangélisation et de promotion humaine. Je souhaite que des suggestions valables sortent de ce Congrès, de même qu’une impulsion renouvelée à l’engagement international en vue de la promotion de la condition des étudiants étrangers, dont la présence doit être considérée de toute façon comme un facteur positif d’enrichissement humain et culturel ».

Let us now build further on the foundations of that very encouraging exhortation of the late Pope John-Paul II!

answers to the questionnaire

1)  Let me also thank those of you who made the effort of answering the questionnaire, namely, the chaplaincies mentioned on the first page. The answers to the questionnaire truly represent a very rich treasure of experiences and realizations in our sector of “welcoming, helping, guiding and preparing the international students for their future life, when they go back home”.

• We want first to mention the remarkable paper written by Father André Joguet on the pastoral care of foreign students in the Muslim countries of North Africa (Maghreb^[6]). In most cases, the scholarships are granted by the host countries. Living in strict Muslim countries they are put under pressure to convert to Islam. Having a very hard life to endure, they feel the necessity of creating Catholic associations where they can deepen their faith, practice religious songs, share together their liturgical praying moments. Thanks to such associations, they can also, come out publicly when it is necessary, and fight for their rights in front of the bad will of some administrations. (“Ils s’investissent beaucoup dans l’animation liturgique, surtout les chorales, mais beaucoup aussi ne viennent pas à l’église, à cause de l’éloignement ou faute de temps… Mais certains demandent le baptême et vivent leur catéchuménat dans nos diocèses pendant trois ou quatre ans. D’autres se préparent à l’Eucharistie et à la Confirmation”!)

The paper of Father André Joguet radiates a true missionary spirit. He also mentions the “Summer Schools” that are organized for the international students during the summer holidays.

• A second paper, written by Father Michel Guillaud, student Chaplain in Lyon who represents in our midst the “Mission étudiante de France”, also speaks about those “Summer Schools”, in Algeria, ‘from the inside’, if I may say so, for he has participated personally in such a course in 2004. He then puts then the question of a possible collaboration with SECIS, for instance, in order to start a “Euro-Mediterranean Summer University initiated by the Churches of the West.”^[7]

2)   Let us now reflect on the target group (les sujets, in French) of the students we deal with. What category of students falls specifically under our responsibility? Who have we to consider as members of our flock? Who are those whom we should shepherd so dearly^[8] ?

1)   Their numbers vary of course a lot from country to country. (US 600,000; UK and Germany respectively 220,000; Austria and France respectively: 200,000; Japan 80,000)

We can consider that ‘foreign students’ represent, on the average, 12 to 16% of the total number of students in the Western World. Some countries (The Netherlands and Belgium, for instance) try to give more attention to African students (50% in Delft, for instance) and also quite often to female students. Most countries experience a sharp increase of Chinese students. On the other hand, in Canada, for instance, the foreign students represented, in 2003/2004, only 7% of the university population; and that was nearly double the 4% of a decade earlier. Whatever it may be, the total number of international students seems to grow steadily year after year. Switzerland seems to be the country where the percentage of foreign students is the highest: 40% in Geneva, 20.8% in Lausanne, 15.6% in Frieburg, and in Zurich, 21% in the polytechnic school and 13.5% in the University. Why is Switzerland so attractive? Beautiful nature, high mountains, pure air, ski resorts… who knows?^[9]

2)   We can divide those students into the following categories:

- Students who come from developing countries.

Most of them are admirable people, whose real purpose is to acquire the necessary knowledge and techniques to be able to lead developing projects in their home countries. 

Others, assuming that they can be more ‘effective’ as long as they are pursuing  their student life abroad (“éternels étudiants”), betray in fact their first ideals with the risk of slipping little by little into the categories of true “immigrants” or “refugees”, without the necessary papers to be in order with the social laws of the host-country. The USA puts it as follows: “One of the pastoral concerns includes helping the students maintain a balance between immersion in a new culture and maintaining ties with their own culture; helping to combat ‘culture clashes’ caused by insensitivity to cultural differences and addressing religious differences in the practice of ritual and liturgy.”

- Students who come from the ex-communist countries from Eastern Europe, mostly thanks to scholarships from the “Tempus” projects given by the E.U.

- Students from EU countries whose studies are partially financed by the “Erasmus Program” of the European Union, so that they can pursue part of their studies at other Universities and High Schools inside the European Union.

- A small group of students are financially totally independent, as long as it goes, of course! Living thanks to the generosity of parents or some other wealthy donors, their situation can seem quite good for a certain time, but remains very fragile, as anything can happen at any time in the future.

- The growing number of Chinese students everywhere in the Western world is a new phenomenon. They are often the only child of the family. In most cases, their parents pay generously the necessary fees. Those students are very often hard working people, sustaining each other through associations of their own flock.

summary in french:

Qui sont ils, ces étudiants étrangers, dont nous nous sentons si responsables?

1. Il s’agit de jeunes adultes de culture universitaire. Ce sont donc des jeunes en contact tant avec la modernité qu’avec le monde universitaire, son enseignement de haut niveau et la recherche de pointe qu’on y fait .

2. Il s’agit également de personnes qui résident pour le temps de leurs études à l’étranger. Ils se retrouvent donc comme « étrangers » dans un pays d’accueil ! 

3. Les étudiants étrangers sont en règle générale bien plus âgés que leurs condisciples des pays hôtes. Il sont parfois déjà mariés et ont déjà poursuivi des études dans leur propre pays d’origine où y ont déjà connu un emploi.

On ne peut donc pas les classer à proprement parler dans les catégories classiques de personnes « immigrées » ou « émigrées ». Peut-on alors parler d’une sorte de « tourisme », mais où la « dolce farniente » serait remplacée par un travail intellectuel intense, constitué premièrement de l’écoute attentive d’un maître  à penser, d’un travail de réflexion personnelle, de mémoire, d’audace intellectuelle, d’innovation, etc.

• D’où viennent-ils^[10] ?

- Pays PDV (Afrique, Amérique Latine, Extrême Orient… etc).

- Pays de l’Est (programme Tempus)

- Pays européens (programme Erasme)

- Un nombre sans cesse croissant d’étudiants étrangers venant de Chine

- Et il y aura toujours aussi certains étudiants plus indépendants mais aussi plus fragiles selon les soutiens financiers qu’ils reçoivent (familial, politique, ou autres) 

• Conséquences :

- Une « intégration » trop prononcée au pays hôte est, quoique l’on puisse dire, à éviter. Cette règle vaut surtout pour les étudiants des pays en développement qui ont pu profiter  d’une bourse pour le développement. Il faut être clair : s’ils ne retournent pas dans leur pays d’origine ou avoisinant^[11], ils commettent une imposture, une malhonnêteté. Il ne faut pas oublier que toute ‘fuite de cerveaux’ affaiblit en fait d’avantage encore le pays d‘origine de l’étudiant ! Que penser, par exemple, de l’attitude du Président de l’UE qui pousse la « chasse aux cerveaux », d’où qu’ils viennent, pourvu qu’ils soient utiles à l’expansion de la recherche et du savoir en Europe ?

- Le vrai souci à avoir, c’est d’insister sur l’engagement que l’étudiant a pris par le fait même de l’acceptation d’une bourse pour le développement, de mettre son expertise au service de son pays et de son peuple en s’y engageant en tant qu’acteur et décideur d’un développement harmonieux et durable dans son pays, le pays d’où il vient.

- En clair, cela veut dire principalement quatre choses :

• Veiller à ce que l’étudiant garde ses racines en ce qu’elles ont de plus sain et de plus humain.

• Aguerrir l’étudiant, autant qu’on le peut, contre l’esprit délétère, matérialiste et carriériste ambiant en Europe. 

• Parler moins « d’intégration » dans la culture du pays hôte mais plutôt d’introduction à cette culture, avec un esprit critique sur l’évolution qu’elle connaît actuellement.

• Préparer l’étudiant au retour dans son pays d’origine en l’aidant, dans la mesure où on le peut, psychologiquement, moralement et techniquement, à se lancer dans la carrière d’aide au développement qu’il recherchait au départ.

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

3) What are the needs of the international students?

- As we talk about students, we have to acknowledge that the first desire of every student is to be accepted by a University or a Technical High School of an internationally recognized academic standing, where he can get a good education, meeting interesting professors, receiving from them substantial teaching and good introduction for further studies and research work.

- So we should not forget that the best students aim, first and foremost, to get at the University or High School of they choice the best education and scientific training they can expect to receive.^[12] That’s why the first environment the student has to become familiar with is the “University” itself, its specific life and culture, as also everything that surrounds it. Luckily, most Colleges have an International Office and staff members who deal with overseas students.^[13]

- The second important, even essential, factor is, of course, to get the necessary scholarship or financial help in order to be able to make the dream of so many young people, especially of those who come from developing countries, come true. The questionnaire reveals different funds from where students can get such study-grants, namely, for instance:  

• Most European Countries have a Directorate General for Development Cooperation. It is often closely connected with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are, in most cases, the main scholarship donors in favor of students who come from developing countries. In these matters, they pursue indeed their own national policies.

• A few very remarkable Catholic institutions provide scholarships to students from the developing countries. The strategic approach they are following is more in accord with the ideal of “social justice” that the Catholic Church implements. Their programs often imply “education programs” and the promotion of leadership development in which international students and scientists play an important part. Let us mention, among others, the following groups:

• The “Katholischer Akademischer Ausländer Diest” (KAAD) in Germany^[14].

• The “Justinus Work” in Switzerland, which combines the trusteeship of a fund for scholarships as well as management of students’ residences.

• The “Afro-Asian Institute” works at different levels: scholarships, Seminars for the students and experiences of Inter-religious Dialogue, mainly in Salzbourg, Vienna and Graz.

• The “John-Paul II” foundation in Poland.

• The Italian “UCSEI” is also a remarkable agency under these aspects.

The report of the “Katholischer Akademischer Ausländer Diest” says the following:

“An increase in the internationalization of the universities is a process which is most desirable for the Catholic Church if it includes better access to education and research for the poorer countries of the globe and the creation of platforms for continent spanning, interdisciplinary and inter-religious meetings.

“The process furthered since the middle of the 90s in Germany is at the same time under a pressure of globalization and Europeanization in view of the fact that an international educational market and a common European area of higher education are emerging. According to the latest data (2001/02), Germany^[15] already ranks third among the host countries world-wide (after the USA and Great Britain) with approx. 206,000 foreign students. This is an 11% share in the total number of students”.

• The European Union has also put up several programs that allow European students to pursue a part of their studies (3 months up to one year) in a University or a High School of another European Country. Some examples:

• “Erasmus Mundus program” is a co-operation and mobility program in the field of higher education which promotes the European Union around the world as a centre of excellence in learning. It supports European top-quality Masters Courses and enhances the visibility and attractiveness of European higher education in third countries. It also provides EU-funded scholarships for third country nationals participating in these Masters Courses, as well as scholarships for EU-nationals studying in third countries.

• The “Tempus program”, providing scholarships to Countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Western Balkan and also to the Mediterranean regions or other programs.

• “Leonardo program”, “Socrates program”, etc.

These EU programs attract many students. They nowadays represent even more than half of the number of international students in the European Universities.

A matter of reflection would be: what political aims are pursued by those groups who attract international students to study in foreign countries? Is it a matter of “brain gain” or of “brain drain”, by some modern “headhunting” techniques?

But luckily, students are more than only “brains” to be filled with modern science. They have a body to be sheltered and looked after, a soul and a spirit to be fostered.

So, international students need, more than others, “Student Residences”, where they can find a ‘safe home away from home’, “Student Clubs” for the need they have of meeting each other, exchanging their different cultures in a friendly atmosphere of dialoguing and respecting each others’ differences, and, last but not least, true “Chaplaincies”, where they can find solace for the Heart, the Spirit and the Soul existing in the deepest self of every human being. 

The aim of a Congress such as ours, is to exchange the experiences we have in welcoming, accompanying and guiding international students, helping them not only to succeed in their studies but also, as far as we can, to become true adults, with a high sense of responsibility for their own future, that of their families and, last but not least, the sustainable and harmonious development of their home countries.

4) The other urgent needs of the foreign students and how to satisfy them:

• Finding a suitable and not too expensive student residence is of utmost importance. 

• Loneliness, homesickness, disorientation, cultural shock and isolation are very common during the first weeks.  How to help?

• By personal contacts with people who have experienced the same problems in their lives. They may be fellow students. They may be people who are trained in the service of “Welcoming foreign students”. It will be one of the main tasks that a Chaplaincy will organize. “A welcoming environment in the Chaplaincy Centre is essential.”

• By student groups themselves that organize social activities (sporting events, cultural events, trips, all kinds of gatherings, receptions, dinner-parties, etc.)

• By introductory courses integrating the students into the local population. 

• Let us also stress that, for most of the Christian students, the daily/weekend liturgies offer a focal point where they can find a sense of belonging. From here, they have a gateway to other kinds of networks and friendship circles.

• But let us never forget that the cultural shock that the international students may experience in the spiritual field can be very challenging. They, for instance, can’t avoid being confronted, in the host countries, with an advanced, sometimes even aggressive, secularized surrounding, very critical in matters of dialogue between science and faith, modernity and religion, etc. On the other hand, because of the advanced globalization of the academic world, the international students will at the same time be confronted with the diversity of the Christian world^[16] and also with the big diversity not only of so many different cultures but also with the diversity of so many other religions.

Le rapport Suisse le dit de cette manière: “Dans nos universités, à cause du contexte culturel et confessionnel propre à la Suisse, il y a de facto une situation de pastorale œcuménique auprès des étudiants, par le contact régulier et journalier mais aussi officiel et plus, structurel, entre les aumôniers catholiques et protestants. Les aumôneries et leurs équipes pastorales sont soit en relation œcuménique étroite, soit structurée de manière œcuménique officiellement. Elles  élaborent des programmes d’actions communes. Pour ce qui en est de la pastorale de dimension interreligieuse : elle varie selon les Universités. Elle va de la rencontre, du dialogue, du partage, de conférences, de cours, d’étude, jusqu’à l’aménagement et à la mise à disposition de lieux de prière ou des rencontre interreligieuses »

The Report of The Netherlands has it as follows: “The needs of the students are rather religious: they want to worship in a language they can understand, this is in English as their second language. Secondly they want to know how to cope with secular society, which is predominant in The Netherlands. There are some, specially the Chinese students, who come to us for first evangelization… Many students are happy that they are able to speak about ecumenical and interfaith situations…. Co-operation with other Christian churches resulted in stimulating ecumenical dialogue in the field of pastoral work in general. It was noticed that the international students were very keen^[17] in getting to know each other and to deepen their faith by having occasions for ecumenical dialogue… Annual trips to Taizé became customary and resulted also in an exchange of the choice of hymns so that gradually a stronger Christian community of international students has emerged, co-operating also in further activities, like bible-studies, intercultural meetings of students in general and of late, after the 11^th of September, also resulting in interfaith dialogue groups…

Ecumenical and inter-religious activities are realized by organizing ecumenical discussions, services, interfaith dialogue groups and a national and annual interfaith congress. There are also activities in which students, from whatever religion or philosophy of life, can participate and can get to know each other, for example: outings, barbecues, Taizé-visit, “Crossroads”, “Global Meeting Point”, etc.

The KAAD writes the following: “As for the Catholic Church, her universal and ‘transnational’ character as ‘communion’ at the world level is the ‘natural’ theological basis for the solidarity and dialogue in the international sector of the German universities. 1) Welcoming and 2) integrating the foreign students, 3) offering them a forum of intercultural and inter-religious exchange –also through 4) homes/hostels run by Catholic dioceses or congregations-, 5) helping them in economically, socially and psychologically critical situations, are at the same time only a starting point for mutual enrichment and also prepare us to experience and learn from their cultural and spiritual differences and profundity. This dimension of the university chaplaincies as intercultural and inter-religious learning and study communities is recognized by the German bishops and expressed in an exemplary way, for example, in a decree of the Archbishop of Cologne (September 1999).”

The very original and new initiative of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, namely the “Fondazione Nostra Aetate”, created in Rome, in May 1990, is also worth mentioning:

That foundation distributes annually fifty scholarships for the benefit of university students of other religions, mostly for Muslims from North Africa, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, India and Central Asia.

The Foundation hopes, by this way, that those students would get either a valuable introduction or deeper knowledge of the Christian religion thanks to the courses they follow in some Pontifical University in Rome.

The Foundation also tries to find suitable accommodations for these students (religious houses, for instance), where they can learn something about Christianity, experienced from the inside, so to say: “Conoscenza del cristianismo dall’interno”.

Once a month, one of the officials of the Foundation organizes a meeting where the students have to share about the progress of the work they do. A general discussion is also held about everyone’s experiences on “religious dialogue” they had with other people.            

A propos de la dimension oeucuménique et interreligieuse de la Pastorale universitaire, le rapport Belge écrit ce qui suit : « La mobilité actuelle tant au plan du personnel académique que des étudiants universitaires pousse à la plus grande ouverture qui soit entre tous ceux qui font partie intégrante des Universités, partout dans le monde ».

On ne peut donc pas ne pas constater la pluralité extrême d’opinions philosophiques et religieuses qui existe parmi les étudiants dans toutes les universités, quelles qu’elles soient. Le principe de base à maintenir, ou à acquérir s’il le faut, c’est d’abord d’essayer de mieux connaître et de mieux comprendre l’opinion d’autrui. C’est ensuite d’approfondir sa propre foi et son identité à soi, C’est enfin d’entrer en dialogue avec autrui, en osant confronter en toute amitié les opinions les plus diverses. Il faut même parfois aller jusqu’à accepter chez autrui certaines différences d’opinion avec lesquelles nous ne pouvons être d’accord ni approuver sans nous renier nous-même. Mais il est vrai que le problème le plus difficile à gérer c’est celui de la prolifération de nouvelles églises, qu’on appelle souvent ‘sectes’ aujourd’hui. Chacun aime bien, en effet, se retrouver pour prier avec les gens de son propre pays, de son propre clan, parlant la même langue, ayant les mêmes coûtumes, les mêmes croyances…jusqu’aux mêmes chorales , parfois ! L’unité, dans ces cas, n’est effectivement pas si facile à maintenir... Elle a son prix, pourtant » !  

• Let us acknowledge, last but not least, the absolute essential place of a competent and active social service at all levels of the institutions in the host country, both at the Universities and High Schools and in the students’ hostels and chaplaincies. It is crucial that the social assistant on the one hand and the Pastoral Assistant or the “Chaplain” (lay person or religious), on the other, work intimately together to help solve all the problems that can arise, namely: academic problems, financial problems, health problems, psychological problems, the quest for student jobs, juridical assistance… and so on.

Finding somewhere someone who takes the necessary time to listen, with sympathy, patience, competence and an attentive ear, to everyone who comes by, has no price. Most chaplaincies by the way, attest in the reports that they keep a small fund in order to help financially in emergency cases. They can sometimes even provide extra food packages thanks to their affiliation to the “food-bank”. They also try to find student jobs for those who need some extra money, etc.

5) What are the principal motivations that support the pastoral care and the theology of the engagement with foreign students?

This is a very interesting question indeed that forces each one of us to do a kind of spiritual introspection. The different responses are:

- “The need of the international university student for a specific pastoral care different from the normal parish community and specifically geared towards the needs of the person in his/her student-time. It is not only a time for further education, but also for further personal formation including spirituality, ethics, and morality. Next to fulfilling this need, the chaplaincy tries to emphasize the ecumenical and inter-religious aspects, and further educates the student in his/her religious knowledge (bible study), especially to shoulder his/her responsibility in the student’s own, situation of church work, country. Through the magazine ‘the global student’ we also try to establish contacts between alumni worldwide and with universities.” (The Netherlands)

- “The commitment to foreign students… providing a home and spiritual guidance to people from abroad. Also, the wish to be close to the young people as they often go through big intellectual, personal and existential challenges during this period of time”. (Sweden)

- “The responsibility of the local Church to welcome and integrate the ‘stranger in our midst’ according to our available resources. Universities are increasingly multicultural and diverse, the Church and the university chaplaincies have an important role in promoting mutual respect and tolerance.” (England and Wales)

- “Concern about the welfare and the pastoral care of foreign students, inviting them to participate in the ministry with us as far as possible and awareness raising with the general student body, involving them in lobbying, fund-raising and outreach to the developing world… Giving them, through cultural evenings, some insight into the various cultures on the campus.” (Ireland)

- « La certitude de la presence de Dieu dans les divers lieux et milieux universitaires et dans le dialogue entre la science, la foi et la culture. D’autre part, il ya la solicitude et la charité envers l’étranger, et notre désir de partager au maximum leur vie quotidienne, par une presence dans les diverses activités universitaires (cours, culture, sport, repas, fêtes, etc.). Nous avons la certitude que ces partages sont une voie pastorale d’évangélisation, d’amour et de respect de ces étudiants étrangers » (Suisse).

- « Notre motivation principale de Pasteur est bien de soutenir ces jeunes dans leur vie chrétienne dans nos pays du Maghreb où, dans le milieu universitaire, ils ont à porter témoignage de leur foi chrétienne. Ils sont les seuls jeunes de nos diocèses et donc apportent aussi leur dynamisme. Ils sont capables de prendre leurs responsabilités de laïcs dans l’animation des communautés. Ils sont un lien de plus en plus fort avec les Eglises subsahariennes, d’où la présence dans le clergé de prêtres ‘fidei donum’ ou de religieux issus des mêmes pays et les apports ponctuels de théologiens ou biblistes des Eglises d’Afrique subsaharienne » (Maghreb).

The Belgian report mentions the following: « Les motivations qui nous poussent à nous engager dans ce secteurs sont multiples.

1. Pouvoir participer de façon intelligente et effective à l’idéal de l’aide au développement. Ce désir profond de pouvoir être un maillon de cette immense chaîne formée par tant de gens de bonne volonté de par le monde, qui participent chacun à leur niveau et à leur place, à cet immense effort de formation d’élites compétentes et généreuses de personnes venant des pays ACP et y retournant au plus vite pour y mener des actions de développement pour le bien-être de leur peuple. Le revers de la médaille étant que l’on ressent comme un échec et qu’on s’attriste aussi des manques d’honnêté de ces étudiants qui après avoir fait des études avec une bourse pour le développement évitent de rentrer chez eux pour faire fructifier les connaissances qu’ils ont acquises au profit de leur peuple et leur pays !

2. Se sentir utile au plan de l’idéal missionnaire d’aujourd’hui. Il fut, en effet, une époque où des Chrétiens, prêtres, religieux(ses) ou même laïcs, partaient dans des pays inconnus pour y porter l’Évangile. Aujourd’hui par contre, en ces temps post-coloniaux, une des missions principales de l’Église c’est d’accueillir dans un esprit évangélique les jeunes ressortissants de ces pays qui viennent se former chez nous, pour s’engager ensuite dans le développement de leur peuple. Il est effectivement essentiel qu’au plan de la foi chrétienne, nous puissions protéger au mieux les étudiants internationaux contre les dérives religieuses que l’Ouest connaît aujourd’hui et que nous les préparions à leur mission future dans leur pays d’origine.

3. Les chapellenies universitaires spécialisées dans l’accueil des étudiants internationaux témoignent, par le fait même du travail qu’elles font, de l’intérêt extraordinaire qu’il y a pour chacun à ‘sortir de sa carcasse étriquée’ pour s’ouvrir au monde en toute sa variété. C’est dans cette ambiance que se vit le mieux au quotidien la grande fraternité qui doit exister entre tous les êtres humains, de quelque race, ethnie, nation, langue, etc. qu’ils soient. C’est dans cette ambiance également que ceux d’entre eux qui se reconnaissent chrétiens, se retrouvent profondément unis par un même Esprit, dans la prière et dans la communion au Seigneur, Jésus-Christ. Comme lors du pèlerinage des JMJ à Cologne, l’universalité et la catholicité de l’Église vont de soi dans ce monde des étudiants internationaux. Ils sont alors aussi porteurs de joie, de fraternité, de profonde sympathie réciproque, d’entente harmonieuse, et de paix enthousiaste^[18] ! 

4. L’engagement auprès des étudiants étrangers est également porté par l’intérêt que l’on ressent de pouvoir participer de près à la vie et à la culture universitaire qui est marquée par la recherche de la vérité, le partage du savoir, l’humble écoute d’autrui et le dialogue entre des équipes de chercheurs pour progresser sur la voie qui éclaire le Mystère de toutes choses.    

6) As a conclusion of this responses to the synthesis of the questionnaire, let us consider question 3, namely: “What Church Institution in the different countries, takes the responsibility of the Pastoral and Social care for international students? Indicate the strong and weak points of the choices that had been taken.”    

- At grass-root level, the student Chaplaincies take on their shoulders the broadest responsibilities in this sector of pastoral and social care for international students. Student chaplaincies have even been promoted, in some countries, in accordance with Canon Law, as non territorial, “personal” parishes for all those who are involved in the life of the Academic Institutions. These chaplaincies are often divided in 2 sections: one section more specialized in the Pastoral and Social care of students from abroad^[19], the other section being directed more to the students from within. Father McCoy passed me a very interesting essay signed by Rev. Dr. Peter McGrail and Professor John Sullivan under the title “dancing on the edge”: a report on catholic chaplaincies in higer eduction^[20].

I just want to quote here one idea about what chaplains sometimes feel about the work situation in their daily life: “The sense of isolation felt by many chaplains is most painfully experienced in their relationship with the institutional church that appoints them. Individual support varies, and can be good, but there are very few systems in place for sustained supervision and support of chaplains and chaplaincy.”

One good point for the work done by the chaplains for international students, and I quote once more: “Most institutions report that the bulk of their Sunday congregation was made up of international students”. 

The fact is, on the one hand, that at the highest level of the Catholic Church, the Holy See, three Dicasteries are involved in the pastoral care for international students. First of all, the “Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People”. And nobody can deny that they are, up to now, the most active in this field. But as the ‘target group’ of our pastoral work is students at Universities and High Schools, it is more than normal that the “Congregation for Catholic Education” should also be involved in this field, and also, last but not least, the “Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples”, specially “Missio” when those students are religious: brothers and sisters from religious orders or even priests who come from “mission countries”. Of course, the Holy Father himself, especially Pope John Paul II, has always firmly sustained and protected all those who devote their life working in the field of Pastoral and Social Care for international students^[21].

• The fact, on the other hand, is also that in most European countries, even in Germany^[22] and in the UK^[23], the chaplains have sometimes the impression that the work they do often remains ambiguous. An English report on chaplaincies, in March 2005, under the title “dancing on the edge”, analyses that feeling of malaise in the Chapters “Doing a Good Job Outside a Parish”, “Relations with Other Diocesan Clergy”, “Diocesan Lines of Support and Responsibility” and “Direct links with Parishes” (p. 66-70).