VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 206
DATE 21-11-2014

Summary:
- The Pope to participants in the World Congress for the Pastoral Care of
Migrants: "Migration is an aspiration to hope"
- Video message to the participants in the 4th Festival of the Social Doctrine
of the Church
- Francis: a strong and widespread desire to walk together
- The Virgin Mary, protagonist of the 19th Public Session of the Pontifical
Academies
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
- Appointment of the deputy editor of "L'Osservatore Romano"

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 The Pope to participants in the World Congress for the Pastoral Care of
Migrants: "Migration is an aspiration to hope"
 Vatican City, 21 November 2014 (VIS) - "Migration is still an aspiration to
hope, notwithstanding new developments and the emergence of situations which
are at times painful and even tragic", said the Pope in his address to the
participants in the Seventh World Congress for the Pastoral Care of Migrants,
affirming the powerful hope that inspires many inhabitants of troubled areas
throughout the world to seek a better future for their families in other
places, even at the risk of disappointment and failure. This, he remarked, is
caused in great part by the economic crisis which, to differing degrees,
affects every country.
 The three-day Congress highlighted the dynamics of cooperation and
development in the pastoral care of migrants. "First and foremost you have
analysed the factors which cause migration, in particular: inequality,
poverty, overpopulation, the growing need for employment in some sectors of
the global job market, disasters caused by climate change, wars and
persecution, and the desire of younger people to relocate as they seek new
opportunities. Moreover, the link between cooperation and development shows,
on the one hand, the difference of interests between states and migrants, and,
on the other hand, the opportunities which derive for both".
 "In effect, receiving nations draw advantages from employing immigrants for
production needs and national prosperity, not infrequently filling gaps
created by the demographic crisis", observed the Holy Father. "In turn, the
nations which migrants leave show a certain reduction in unemployment and,
above all, benefit from earnings which are then sent back to meet the needs of
families which remain in the country. Emigrants, in the end, are able to
fulfil the desire for a better future for themselves and their families. Yet
we know that some problems also accompany these benefits. We find in the
countries of origin, among other things, an impoverishment due to the
so-called 'brain drain', the effects on infants and young people who grow up
without one or both parents, and the risk of marriages failing due to
prolonged absences. In the receiving nations, we also see difficulties
associated with migrants settling in urban neighbourhoods which are already
problematic, as well as their difficulties in integrating and learning to
respect the social and cultural conventions which they find. In this regard,
pastoral workers play an important role through initiating dialogue, welcoming
and assisting with legal issues, mediating with the local population. In the
countries of origin, on the other hand, the closeness of pastoral workers to
the families and children of migrant parents can lessen the negative
repercussions of the parents' absence".
 However, the Congress affirmed that the implications of the Church's pastoral
concern in the overall context of cooperation, development and migration go
much further, and "it is here that the Church has much to say. The Christian
community, in fact, is continuously engaged in welcoming migrants and sharing
with them God's gifts, in particular the gift of faith". Furthermore, the
Church "promotes pastoral plans for the evangelisation and support of migrants
throughout their journey from their country of origin, through countries of
transit, to the receiving countries. She gives particular attention to meeting
the spiritual needs of migrants through catechesis, liturgy and the
celebration of the Sacraments".
 "Sadly", he added, "migrants often experience disappointment, distress,
loneliness and marginalisation. In effect, the migrant worker has to deal with
the problem both of being uprooted and needing to integrate. Here the Church
also seeks to be a source of hope: she develops programs of education and
orientation; she raises her voice in defence of migrants' rights; she offers
assistance, including material assistance to everyone, without exception, so
that all may be treated as children of God. When encountering migrants, it is
important to adopt an integrated perspective, capable of valuing their
potential rather than seeing them only as a problem to be confronted and
resolved. The authentic right to development regards every person and all
people, viewed integrally. This demands that all people be guaranteed a
minimal level of participation in the life of the human community. How much
more necessary must this be in the case of the Christian community, where no
one is a stranger and, therefore, everyone is worthy of being welcomed and
supported".
 "The Church, beyond being a community of the faithful that sees the face of
Jesus Christ in its neighbour, is a Mother without limits and without
frontiers. She is the Mother of all and so she strives to foster the culture
of welcome and solidarity, where no one is considered useless, out of place or
disposable. ... Migrants, therefore, by virtue of their very humanity, even
prior to their cultural values, widen the sense of human fraternity. At the
same time, their presence is a reminder of the need to eradicate inequality,
injustice and abuses. In that way, migrants will be able to become partners in
constructing a richer identity for the communities which provide them
hospitality, as well as the people who welcome them, prompting the development
of a society which is inclusive, creative and respectful of the dignity of
all".
 The Pope concluded by invoking upon the participants in the Congress "the
protection of Mary, Mother of God, and St. Joseph, who themselves experienced
the difficulty of exile in Egypt".

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 Video message to the participants in the 4th Festival of the Social Doctrine
of the Church
 Vatican City, 21 November 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis has sent a video message
to the participants in the fourth edition of the Festival of the Social
Doctrine of the Church, which this year focuses on the theme, "Beyond places,
in time". The title, he says, suggests various points for reflection, the
first of which is the concept of "going beyond". "The current situation of
social and economic crisis can frighten us, disorientate us or seem so
difficult that we conclude there is nothing we can do. The great temptation is
to stop and tend to our own wounds, and find in that an excuse not to listen
to the cry of the poor and the suffering of those who have lost the dignity of
being able to put bread on the table because they have lost their jobs. And
those who seek only to cure their own wounds end up preening themselves. This
is a trap. The risk is that indifference makes us blind, deaf and mute,
present only to ourselves, before the mirror, so that everything happens
outside us. Men and women closed up in themselves". This narcissism, he says,
is not the right approach.
 "We are required to go beyond this and to respond to real needs", he
continues. "To go overcome, it is necessary to take the initiative. ...
Nowadays, even in the economic sphere it is urgent to take the initiative, as
the system tends to sanction everything and money takes control. The system
leads to this form of globalisation which is not good and which sanctions
everything. ... Taking the initiative in these spheres means having the
courage not to let oneself be imprisoned by money and short-term gains which
enslave us. We need to find a new way of seeing things!"
 "The real problem is not money though, but rather people: we cannot ask of
money that which only people can do or create. Money alone does not lead to
development: development requires people who have the courage to take
initiative. And taking the initiative means developing activity capable of
innovation, not only of a technological nature; it is also necessary to renew
working relations, experimenting with new forms of participation and
responsibility for workers, inventing new ways of entering the world of work,
creating a bond of solidarity between business and territory. Taking
initiative means overcoming 'assistentialism'".
 "Taking initiative also means considering love as the true motor of change",
he adds. "Freeing talents is the beginning of change; this action allows envy,
jealousy, rivalry, disagreement and prejudice, and opening up to joy, to the
joy of the new". He emphasises that the question of talent is of particular
relevance to the young: "If we want to go ahead, we must make decisive
investments in them and trust in them".
 "'Going beyond places' is not the result of individual chance but of sharing
an aim: history is a path towards fulfilment. If we act as a population, if we
go ahead together, our existence will illustrate this meaning and this
fullness".

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 Francis: a strong and widespread desire to walk together
 Vatican City, 21 November 2014 (VIS) - "This anniversary invites us to give
thanks to God for the many fruits harvested in this last half-century. In
particular, there has occurred what the Council recommended: the appreciation
of how much there is that is good and true in the life of Christians in every
community". Thus Pope Francis greeted the participants in the plenary assembly
of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the theme of which is
"The aim of ecumenism: principles, opportunities and challenges, fifty years
after Unitatis Redintegratio".

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