Pope Francis issues a vibrant call in favour of Child migrants and several Bishops conferences in Europe have launched statements and initiatives to encourage Christians and political leaders to act.
• The Call of Pope Francis
More and more children are crossing borders on their own. Child migrants travelling alone are among those at the highest risk of exploitation and abuse, including by smugglers and traf
fickers. “Everyone should take care of the young, who in a threefold way are defenceless: they are children, they are foreigners, and they have no means to protect themselves”. This is the Message of Pope Francis for the 2017 World Day of Migrants and Refugees. In his Message, Pope Francis invites to work “towards protection, integration and long-term solutions,” and also, “to deal with the causes which trigger migrations in the countries of origin”.
• Dialogue led by COMECE with the EU Commission
The COMECE Secretariat works for the rights of migrants, refugees and hosting societies to be harmonised and respected in the EU for the sake of the common good in the Christian spirit of welcoming the stranger. In October 2016, COMECE focused on the situation of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the EU, in a Dialogue Seminar with the European Commission and closely follows this topic in the frame of its monitoring of Migration and Asylum Policies of the EU.
• Episcopal conferences in Europe mobilize
The Spanish Episcopal Conference presented on January 13 the campaign launched by its Commission on Migration to mark this day. Interventions and other documents are available on its website.
The Italian Bishops’ Conference publishes the comments of Msgr. Guerino Di Tora, President of the Migrantes Foundation and the analysis of Msgr. Giancarlo Perego, Director General of the Foundation as well the proposals of the Secretary General of the CIS, Mgr. Nunzio Galantino.
The Council for Immigrants of the Irish Bishops’ Conference has released a parish resource pack to celebrate the World Day for Migrants and Refugees on Sunday 15 January 2017.
The French Bishops’ Conference has issued a special prayer, poster and more materials to animate this day in the dioceses and parishes. It also organises a symposium on February 7 on Child Migrants.
German and French bishops issue a joint statement on the occasion of this World Day in which they declare that “the particularly high number of unaccompanied minors in Europe faces us with immense challenges”. They recall that the Catholic Church in Germany and France has many resources to accompany migrant minors on their way to an autonomous life (schools, social organizations, youth movements, ecclesial associations and religious communities) and they call for ” widening existing proposals and develop them further “. Finally, they remind political leaders in European countries of their duty to guarantee the legal and administrative conditions “allowing migrant minors to lead a dignified life in our country”.