The challenges and prospects for the pastoral care of migrants and refugees, co-operation between European bishops, the exchange of experiences, migration policies and the issue of integration of immigrant workers will all be the focus of discussions at a two-day meeting in Valletta next week, Vatican Radio said.  

The meeting is being promoted by the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE), and will include bishops and national directors from Europe’s Bishops’ Conferences with responsibility for the pastoral care of migrants and refugees.

In a comunique, the “Migrants” Section of CCEE’s Caritas in Veritate Commission, chaired by Cardinal Josip Bozanić, Archbishop of Zagreb said  the meeting will focus on “The pastoral care of migrants and refugees: between integration and inclusion.”

The conference delegates will also visit Safi detention camp.

During the meeting, there will also be interventions by Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia, Helena Dalli, Minister for Social Dialogue, Ambassador José Angelo Oropeza Rojas, IOM Director of the Co-ordinating Office for the Mediterranean and Chief of Mission for Italy and Malta; and the Holy See’s local representative, Mgr Aldo Cavalli, Apostolic Nuncio to Malta and Libya.