Illegal immigration and multiculturalism are different but related; and like the proverbial poor of the Gospel they are here to stay. The relation is based on the fact that immigration - legal or illegal - fosters multiculturalism. For "here" do not just read "Malta" but read "Europe". The Church has a very important role to play on both counts.

It has a prophetic role which is put into practice both by words and deeds. Society needs the contribution of the Church in the same way that it needs light. While the Gospel is the basis of the intervention of the Church everywhere particular cultural or economic situations will influence the modality of the expression of the church. For this reason churches learn from one another. In this contribution we propose the contribution of the Church in Germany and Belgium for the reflection of our readers.

The number of Muslims in Europe is on the increase. Is this a threat? How should the Church react? 

The General Secretary of the Bishops' working group on relations with Muslims, Peter Hunsseler, said that the Catholic Church in Germany must help Muslim migrants integrate into society. "We can learn a lot from the Muslims: about piety, about hospitality or about the education of children within the family," he said during a meeting held during the last week of May.

Ulrike Bechmann, a Catholic biblical scholar who participated in a session, said that the basis of dialogue has to be a recognition of the other as different. "We have to recognise that the existence of the other is something which is wanted by God," she said.

Rabeya Muller, a Muslim theologian, said she felt that Christian-Muslim dialogue was "under the sword of Damocles", but she added that dialogue and the relationship between Christians and Muslims depend on individuals. In areas where the relationships are good, the dialogue is good, she said.

It is true to say that the reaction of the elite - and the speakers on both sides form part of the elite of their communities - can be very different from the reaction of the grass roots. This most probably applies in Germany as well as in Malta. It is the duty of the leaders of the Church everywhere to show an attitude such as that shown by the German leaders.

Let us now turn to illegal immigrants and asylum- seekers. Late last year asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants, whose plight has been worsened by the slow processing of asylum requests, launched a campaign for the right to stay in Belgium and have been occupying churches, a mosque and other religious buildings. More than 40,000 people had signed up with an organisation for defence of the undocumented, which is co-ordinating the campaign, Le Soir reported on May 14.

Catholic bishops in Belgium said they were "in solidarity" with illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers staying in churches, but that regularisation of their situations should be resolved politically. "This problem is above all a human one which appeals to everyone's conscience. All the bishops can do is associate themselves with this appeal," the bishops said in a May 11 statement. "The regularisation of people without papers is first a political question demanding a political answer - such is the mission of our politicians. But it is equally a human drama, and this concerns us all."

"We fully respect the separation of Church and state, but this does not prevent our asking the politicians responsible for settling this problem to do everything possible to find a political solution to this human drama," the bishops said. "How many people our country can accept, and under which conditions, is a decision the population should entrust to its political representatives."

Not all Catholics agree with the bishops. The Catholic news agency Cathobel said on May 11 that some Catholic groups pledged to "organise resistance" to the bishops' support for asylum-seekers.

One understands the emotions that are evoked when this subject is discussed. This also happens in Malta. As a consequence a lot of understanding and patience have to be shown.

But this cannot be done at the expense of the basic truth and belief of Christianity, i.e., that all persons have basically the same dignity and have to be given the same rights. Mother Teresa used to say that Christians have to learn to love those who are near even when it hurts. The presence of asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants among us is constantly challenging us to live these basic realities.