Pope Benedict XVI views the world of migrants as a vast and diversified one, knowing wonderful and promising experiences as well as, unfortunately, so many others that are tragic and unworthy of the human being and of societies that claim to be civil.
In a message entitled One Human Family, the theme for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday (January 16), the Holy Father states that for the Church this reality constitutes an eloquent sign of our times which further highlights humanity’s vocation to form one family and, at the same time, the difficulties which, instead of uniting it, divide it and tear it apart.
The Pope appeals: “Let us not lose hope and let us together pray God, the Father of all, to help us – each in the first person – to be men and women capable of brotherly relationships and, at the social, political and institutional levels, so that understanding and reciprocal esteem among peoples and cultures may increase.”
The origin of the theme the Holy Father chose for this year’s reflection on migrants and refugees is the profound link that exists between all human beings: one family of brothers and sisters in societies becoming ever more multi-ethnic and intercultural, where people of various religions are also urged to take part in dialogue “so that a serene and fruitful coexistence with respect for legitimate differences may be found”.
The road for human beings is the same, that of life. However, the situations we pass through on this route are different. Many people have to face the difficult experience of migration in its various forms: internal or international, permanent or seasonal, economic or political, voluntary or forced. Moreover, in various cases, the departure from one’s country is motivated by different forms of persecution so that escape becomes necessary if not unavoidable.
There are 15 million refugees and 27 million internally displaced persons in the world.
The Pope says the situation of refugees and of the other forced migrants, an important part of the migration phenomenon, should be specifically considered in the light of the theme One Human Family. “For these people who flee from violence and persecution, the international community has taken on precise commitments. Respect of their rights, as well as the legitimate concern for security and social coherence, foster a stable and harmonious coexistence.”
The challenge human-rights-loving countries and communities need to address in such circumstances consists in creating for these people areas of tolerance, hope, healing and protection and in striving to see that their dramas and tragedies are properly tackled and solved. The objective, therefore, should be to guarantee refugees and internally displaced persons are given the concrete possibility to develop their human potential.
Speaking on the Pope’s message, Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, said the relations established between migrants – both individuals and groups – and their host society may be schematised in four particular terms:
The first term is assimilation or absorption, which translates into conformity to social mechanisms and leads to “deculturalisation” or “depersonalisation”.
The second is ghettoising, which implies closure, self-defence and resistance in the face of exclusion, rejection of the surrounding society, marginalisation and discrimination, all of which nourish mutual aggression and hostility.
The third is syncretism, or the “melting pot”, which finds expression in the fusion of various cultural models and the loss of specific cultural identity.
The fourth is cultural pluralism that accompanies cultures and seems to arise as a reaction to the one-dimensional character of the local culture that tends to suborn cultural models to those of production and consumption.
To these classic models one may add “social integration” accompanied by “cultural synthesis”.
Archbishop Veglio said this leads, on the one hand, to a dynamic process – the reciprocity of the exchange – and, on the other, to a form of social integration which presupposes participation to bring about and transform social relationships. “This is the only process that can lead to successful multiculturalism and only this process allows groups of immigrants to create a ‘new culture’, the beneficiary of which will be society as a whole”.
The universal common good includes the whole family of peoples, beyond every nationalistic egoism. In an increasingly globalised society, the Pope feels the common good and the effort to obtain it cannot fail to assume the dimensions of the whole human family, that is to say, the community of peoples and nations, “in such a way as to shape the earthly city in unity and peace, rendering it to some degree an anticipation and a prefiguration of the undivided city of God”.
The right to emigrate has to be considered in this context. The Church’s social teaching recognises this right in every human person, in its dual aspect of the possibility to leave one’s country and the possibility to enter another country to look for better conditions of life.
The United Nations labelled 2010 as the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures with the aim of reiterating the idea of the pluralism of humanity and the interaction between cultural diversity and inter-cultural dialogue. The Holy Father’s message for the World Day of Migrants and Refuges reinforces the international community’s perception of the importance of dialogue and promotes the recognition of human rights for everyone, combating new forms of racism and discrimination.
“Human brotherhood is the, at times, surprising experience of a relationship that unites, of a profound bond with the other, different from me, based on the simple fact of being human beings. Assumed and lived responsibly, it fosters a life of communion and sharing with all and, in particular, with migrants; it supports the gift of self to others, for their good, for the good of all, in the local, national and world political communities,” says Benedict XVI in his message.