COOPERATION AMONG LOCAL CHURCHES IN THE MIGRANT MINISTRY

Fr. Fabio Baggio CS; Scalabrini Migration Center

Modern migration, with all its benefits and costs, poses new challenges to the Catholic Church in the third millennium. The pastoral responses to such challenges are not easily found and many times local Churches seem unprepared to deal with a phenomenon that, by definition, is ever changing. Catholic migrants are not ashamed to disclose their spiritual and material needs, but they sometimes feel neglected by the Church of origin and ignored by the Church of arrival. In many cases, the problem lies in defining who would be responsible for people on the move. On the one hand, geographical distance separates migrants from the Church of origin, which may feel somehow relieved of her responsibility. On the other hand, the Church in the country of arrival may feel troubled by the new foreign faithful, who are marked by different cultural and religious backgrounds, often speak a different language, and may sometimes seem disinterested to join the local communities. Concerned about this problem, the Pontifical Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrant and Itinerant People, in 1978, addressed a letter to the episcopal conferences titled, The Church and the People on the Move (CPM). After warning the local Churches about the “… temptation to restrict oneself to a self-serving vision,” the document stated what follows:
“There is a need, therefore, for an attitude of continuous missionary and apostolic conversion, to wit: a) the Church of departure itself is obliged to follow up members of the faithful who, for whatever reason, move elsewhere; b) the Church of arrival itself is deeply sensible of its new duties of service, particularly to those who take up residence in its territory; c) both keep up their own pastoral responsibility in the light of a lively and practically-expresses feeling of reciprocity.” (CPM, 19).
The scenario of modern migration in Southeast and East Asia seems to enhance the need of cooperation and reciprocity among the local Churches: temporary migration with no prospect of becoming permanent (due to the contract worker system), frequent rotation of foreign workers (and faithful), and transnational dynamics which increase the link with families and communities left behind. More reflection and action is needed in this sense.
“Workers in a Pastoral Care of Communion” is the title of Part III of the instruction Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi (EMCC), published in 2004 by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrant and Itinerant People, and it is also the theological framework with which to locate pastoral cooperation between the home and the host Churches in the migrant ministry.
“To ensure that the pastoral care of migrants may be one of communion (that is, born from an ecclesiology of communion and serving a spirituality of communion), it is essential that the Churches of departure and arrival establish an intense collaboration with one another.” (EMCC, 70).
The migrant ministry is a unique opportunity for the Catholic Church to re-discover and re-define her catholicity. Challenged by her ideal of “communion in diversity,” each local Church is called to care and act beyond her juridical boundaries, often corresponding to national territories. Migrants and their families offer local Churches the occasion to demonstrate their universality of concern and action, a concrete sign of the realization of the globalization of solidarity called for by Pope John Paul II (Holy Father's Address of May 17, 2001, to the members of the Foundation for "Ethics and Economics"). Migrants remind the Church about her identity as the “sacrament” of the Kingdom of God, which is not “here” or “there,” but is an ever developing reality between the “already” and “not yet,” a peculiar dimension that the Fathers used to liken to pilgrimage and migration.
On the level of action, the migrant ministry urges the local Churches affected by migration to initiate specific coordinated actions. Overcoming differences and antagonism, the communities of origin and arrival are called to start a constant dialogue in pursuit of the spiritual and material welfare of a portion of the flock entrusted to both. The following actions are some concrete examples of cooperation among Churches in the migrant ministry.
a) Systematic exchange of information. The necessity of exchanging systematically information on migration and pastoral concerns is stressed by the EMCC as the first concrete action addressing the challenge of cooperation between the home and the host Churches:
“This begins first in the reciprocal exchange of information on matters of common pastoral interest. It is unthinkable that these Churches should fail to dialogue with one another and systematically discuss, even in periodic meetings, problems concerning thousands of migrants.” (EMCC, 70).
b) Exchange of pastoral workers. As recommended by No. 33 of the document, Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of Tourism, published by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrant and Itinerant People in 2001, a generous exchange of pastoral workers may help the home and host Churches to deal better with problems of inculturation and adaptation, which often mark the migration experience. As an example, coordinated pre-departure and post-arrival orientation seminars may be significantly enriched by the participation of knowledgeable and committed cross-cultural mediators.
c) Shared planning of pastoral programs. Pastoral planning is always a critical factor for the success of the migrant ministry. To enhance the chances of success, it is essential to involve all the “stakeholders” namely, migrants, families left behind, local communities, parish workers, clergy, religious and bishops. In particular, the direct involvement of the episcopal conferences of the countries of origin and destination, through their dedicated commissions, may provide a broader vision, credibility and sustainability to the envisioned pastoral programs.
d) Solidarity among local Churches. Migration normally occurs from less developed to more industrialized countries. Between the former and the latter there is a “natural” gap in access to financial resources, which is generally notable also at the ecclesiastical level. In a coordinated migrant ministry, the principle of reciprocity should be integrated with the principle of “financial subsidiarity,” according to which the more resourceful community would assist the less resourceful one in case of necessity. Solidarity between host and home Churches, in this sense, may become a fruitful exercise of “pastoral investment.”
“The pastoral care required by people on the move is necessarily a pastoral care, so to speak, without frontiers. The complexity of people’s movements makes itself felt at the level of Churches: suitable instruments can only be found through collaboration and solidarity between the Churches concerned.” (CPM, 26).
e) International advocacy. The advocacy work for migrants’ rights and dignity, which is an essential part of the pastoral concern (EMCC, 6), may not be that effective, if it is not coordinated at the international level. As an example, sensitive labor, social and legal issues concerning migrants may be opportunely addressed by joint statements of the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the host and home Churches.
In Southeast and East Asia, the engagement of many local Churches in the migrant ministry is hardly notable, mostly because other urgent concerns are prioritized. Beyond the appointment of chaplains for migrant communities, there are few examples of pastoral cooperation between home and host communities. There are hopeful signs that the concern is growing day by day. In recent years, the Church in Korea and the Church in the Philippines have initiated a promising collaboration, which entailed the sharing of formation programs for pastoral workers in the migrant ministry and some initial exchange of pastoral agents. The example is set; hopefully others will follow.