Category: News

Photo credit: Kodao Productions

2 Sept 2017
Press Statement

Twenty-five years ago, a short document was signed by some visionary Filipinos.  The Hague Joint Declaration signified an entry into the daring work of peace-building in the Philippines, shifting the dialogue and framing the peace process between the National Democratic Front in the Philippines and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines in a helpful way.

The Hague Joint Declaration focused neither on defeat nor surrender, but instead marked a pathway to agreement and progress, in addressing what actually causes and fuels this civil war in our country. As peace advocates, we have come to admire its wisdom.  Though the phrase ‘address the roots of the armed conflict’ is not found verbatim in The Hague Joint Declaration, it has come to encapsulate the meaning of the declaration as well as our desire for the GRP-NDFP peace talks.

With this declaration that provides a frame upon which we can build a household—a nation–at peace, The Hague Joint Declaration simultaneously allows us to dig up and correct:

• Inequities between the wealthy and the poor,
• Iniquities of the ruling elite who “lord it over” the toiling majority, and
• Injusticessuffered by national minorities, urban poor, exploited workers, landless farmers, and every other marginalized sector of society.

Rather than perpetuating oppression of the Filipino people, The Hague Joint Declaration established road markers that lead the way in aspiring for “just and lasting peace” for our people.

In sharp contrast to a recent statement by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte who applauded the massive killings in a so-called ‘one-time, big-time’ operation in his ’war on drugs,’ The Hague Joint Declaration is intended to help us truly heal “what ails this country.”

Pursuing peace through GRP-NDFP peace talks should be a priority:  not the wanton disregard for the rule of law in killing thousands of citizens, an extended martial law in Mindanao that makes poor communities vulnerable to evacuation and militarization, or the resurgence of foreign intervention in the affairs of our country. We must ‘address the roots of the armed conflict,’ rather than stoke the fires of war against the poor and marginalized.

Let it be acknowledged that under the Duterte administration, there had been many gains that moved the peace talks closer to agreements. Over the course of four formal talks and numerous back-channel meetings, significant strides were taken on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social Economic Reforms (CASER); a Bilateral Ceasefire; and, the reinstituting of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC). Still, peace advocates also acknowledge that the prospects for peace talks under the Duterte administration are now dim.

Words coming from the President himself continue to be alarming.  He has publicly stated that war is now the way forward with the New People’s Army (NPA) and the NDFP, giving the Armed Forces of the Philippines a mandate to pursue an all-out war.  Taking the cue from the President, the Office of the Solicitor General also ordered the cancellation of bail of the freed NDFP Consultants.

The NPA has also stated that it is escalating attacks on state forces.  Even if the majority of NPA operations are defensive in nature, this will likely continue to keep President Duterte fanning the flames to step up military attacks and increase bloodshed.

As this violence intensifies and spills over into many communities throughout the Philippines, we must also intensify our efforts as peace advocates. Peace is possible. Obstacles should move us to more deeply analyze and unpack the current impasse, with efforts to develop creative, fresh, and persuasive approaches in pushing the formal peace talks to continue. We must transform this crisis into an opportunity for us to work together.

It’s been 25 years of struggling for peace under The Hague Joint Declaration.  As we commend the innovative and persevering leaders of the GRP and the NDFP who forged this enlightened framework that continues to be relevant in addressing the roots of the armed conflict through the peace process, we must also urge the GRP and the NDFP to struggle to transform the current impasse in the peace talks.  We call for the resumption of the formal peace talks, especially as there is, yet, no formal termination of the peace negotiations.

Peace advocates will continue to work alongside the sectors of society who desire JustPeace! As Galatians 6:9 says: we must not tire in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. We must work for justice in our land, so that peace will take root to displace the oppression and exploitation that propel many to rise in revolution.

Let us work and pray together for a just and enduring peace, where our children will live in prosperity and sing the songs of freedom!

Reference:      The Most Rev. Deogracias Iñiguez, Jr. DD.
Ecumenical Bishops Forum Convenor of Pilgrims for Peace
pilgrims.peace.phils@gmail.com , 0929-385-4123

Pilgrims for Peace is a broad alliance of advocates for a just and lasting peace based on freedom, democracy and social justice.  Believing that just and lasting peace can only be achieved by addressing the roots of the armed conflict, Pilgrims for Peace concurs with the 1992 Hague Joint Declaration and fully supports GRP-NDFP peace negotiations based on this foundation agreement, which sets the objectives, agenda, and modalities of the negotiations.

PILGRIMS FOR PEACE Convenors:
Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, Ecumenical Bishops Forum; Bishop Reuel N.O. Marigza, United Church of Christ in the Phils; Rev. Rex RB Reyes, National Council of Churches in the Philippines; Rev. Ramil Aguilar, Iglesia Filipina Independiente;
Dr. Carol Araullo, BAYAN; Raymond Palatino, BAYAN Metro Manila;
Antonio L. Flores, Kilusang Magbubukid Pilipinas;Roger Soluta and Priscila S. Ang-Maniquiz, Kilusang Mayo Uno;
Nenita T. Gonzaga-KMU Women; Gertrudes Libang, Gabriela; Mic Catuira, Migrante International;
Bea Arellano, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap; Atty. Ephraim B. Cortez, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers;
Ferdinand R. Gaite, COURAGE; Benjie Valbuena, Alliance of Concerned Teachers; Leon Dulce, Kalikasan;
Feny Cosico, Agham Advocates of Science and Techology for the People, Cristina Palabay, Karapatan;
Dayling Java, Moro Christian People’s Alliance;Nardy Sabino, Promotion of Church People’s Response;
Rey Casambre, Philippine Peace Center; Daisy S. Arago, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights;
Dr. Anie Bautista, EcuVoice; Rev. Joel B. Bayot, UCCP South Luzon Jurisdiction; and, Norma Dollaga, Kasimbayan.

25 August 2017

Dear Networks of ​Clergy​ Discernment Group,

The Moro and indigenous peoples, will stage their second LAKBAYAN NG PAMBANSANG MINORYA on September 1 – 21, 2017. This is part of their continuing struggle for their right to self-determination and to a just peace. Together with different sectors they will march to Metro-Manila to protest against the most brutal wars of aggression, militarization, and plunder on their ancestral lands and territories that they have been experiencing for many months now.

Lakbayan 2017 is a public exposure of all these attacks on their communities, schools and people, especially the attacks on the Moro people, martial law in Mindanao and the aerial bombings in different communities such as the Lumad communities in Mindanao, and they  will seek the support and cooperation of the whole nation towards their struggle.

Around three thousand five hundred (3,500) indigenous peoples and Moro from various parts of the country will set up camp in the University of the Philippines – Diliman Campus and satellite camps in different areas in Metro Manila to bring attention to their plight and their calls in the national capital. As in the previous years during the Manilakbayan of Mindanao and the Lakbayan last year, various activities will be organized within and outside kampuhan such as discussion groups, photo exhibits, film showing, cultural exchange and concert, bazaar, and others to foster unity and solidarity among national minorities and other sectors.

We are inviting you to be one with our Moro and indigenous brothers and sisters in the LAKBAYAN NG PAMBANSA MINORYA 2017. We ask you to JOIN any or all of the following major activities:

September 1     Salubungan ng Pambansang Minorya sa Mendiola
September 2     International Indigenous Youth Conference
September 4-5     Sandugo 2nd National Assembly
September 5-8     Series of protest actions in major government agencies
September 9     BAI Indigenous Women Workshop
Gathering of Indigenous and Moro Peoples’ Advocates
Youth and Elders Inter-generational Exchange
September 10     Sharing of issues, initiatives and struggles among national minorities
Tribute to National Minority martyrs
September 11     Forum on Islamophobia, Terrorism and Moro Peoples’ Struggle for Self Determination
Protest Action at the US Embassy to protest the US-War on Terror
September 14     Solidarity Action for West Papua
September 16     Children’s Festival
September 20     Hugpungan Cultural Solidarity Night
September 21     Protest Action: Commemoration of Martial Law Anniversary and the Current Rising Tyranny of the Duterte regime

We also seek your support to the LAKBAYAN 2017. We hope you can take a look at this checklist and see what you can share, provide, or arrange for them:

• Arrange fora/ group discussions/ exhibits in your communities, schools, parishes where they can also bring their local products as part of fund raising activity
• Plan integration days in their Kampuhan in UP Diliman
• Provide health services and transportation services in their kampuhan
• Share rice, vegetables, fruits, bottled water, coffee, milk, sugar, dried fish, eggs, blankets, beddings

For cash and check donations, please contact the secretariat at (02) 4125340, mobile # +63947-968-6705 or email sandugo.kmkmsp@gmail.com.

Maraming salamat po!

In solidarity,

Sr. Angelita Navarro, ICM                      Fr. Rudy Abao, MSC
Religious Discernment Group              National Clergy Discernment Group

Noted by:

Ms. Joanna Patricia Cariño            Mr. Jerome Succor Aba
Co-Chair                                                      Co-Chair|
Sandugo                                                      Sandugo

LAKBAYAN 2017

Lakbayan ng Pambansang Minorya para sa Sariling Pagpapasya at Makatarungang Kapayapaan

photo credit: intercontinentalcry.org

Isulong ang karapatang magpasya sa sarili at makatarungang kapayapaan! Labanan ang rehimeng US-Duterte sa pagpapatindi ng pang-aagaw sa mga lupang ninuno’t teritoryo, tumitinding pasistang atake, panghihimasok at pakanang gyera ng US sa tabing na kontra-terorismo!

Ano ang Lakbayan ng Pambansang Minorya 2017?

Ngayong taon, higit 3000 na mga pambansang minorya ang maglalakbay sa ilalim ng bandila ng Sandugo, ang alyansa ng mga katutubo at Bangsamoro, para imarka ang higit na pagkakaisa at ipabatid sa sambayanan ang kanilang mga pakikibaka at kahilingan. Ito ang pangalawang pagkakataon na magsasanib puwersa ang mamamayang Moro at mga katutubong Pilipino papuntang Metro Manila ng Setyembre 1-21 at magtitipon sa isang kampuhan sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas- Diliman, Lungsod ng Quezon.

Ano ang layunin ng Lakbayan 2017?

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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Philippine separatist group, has released more than 800 child soldiers over the years as part of its work with the United Nations. (Photo by Mark Navales)

Woman calls for troops to spare children fighting alongside militants after seeing picture of boy resembling kidnapped son

Divina M. Suson, Iligan City  Philippines

August 29, 2017

A mother whose three year-old child was abducted in 2010 from their Manila home begged military officials Aug. 27 to spare children fighting for an Islamic State-inspired rebel group in the southern island of Mindanao, saying she believed one of them could be her long-lost son.

Rowhanisa Abdul Jabar, a resident of Dagupan, Tondo, Manila, made her appeal after seeing social media posts of child fighters in Marawi.

Media reports have identified children — anyone under the 18 year Philippine recruitment age — as young as 10 fighting in the country’s south.

One of them bore a striking similarity to her son, Azramie Magondacan also known as Ram-Ram, she told ucanews.com.

Jabar said a servant abducted Azramie while she was working in her shop. The servant was later arrested, but Jabar’s son and the servant’s accomplices were never found.

“I’ve had a hard time moving on,” Jabar said. “Then I saw these child fighters. One of them looks like my son.”

“Sometimes, I pray it’s not him. It is too painful to think of a son who has become a fighter for the IS,” Jabar said in a phone interview.

She appealed to soldiers in Marawi to ensure the safety of child fighters.

“I hope they do not kill them. If that is really my son, I hope he survives the fighting. I would like a DNA test to know the truth,” Jabar said.

Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of government forces fighting in Marawi, has confirmed the media reports that children have been spotted fighting alongside the Muslim rebel groups.

“Our soldiers have a soft spot for young fighters but they are forced to shoot them if they get too threatening,” Brawner told reporters.

“Once time, they saw a boy running. He was not carrying a gun so they did not shoot. But the next day, the same child was firing at them, so they did not have a choice,” said Brawner.

Col. Edgar Arevalo, Armed Forces public affairs chief, said rescued civilians also confirmed that children are among the enemy fighters.

The U.S. State Department reported that separatist groups in the southern island of Mindanao released last year more than 170 child members.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s biggest separatist group, said it had released 800 child soldiers over eight years as part of a United Nations effort.

But breakaway groups of the MILF were also reported recruiting children these past two years. The Abu Sayyaf, a smaller, extremist organization, is believed to have scores of children fighting or serving in a supporting role.

UCAN News

House Bill 6027 proposes to make legal the dissolution of marriage on two grounds: irreconcilable differences and chronic unhappiness.

Before we entertain the dissolution proposition it is imperative to examine the institution of marriage itself, and how it is viewed in the predominantly Catholic Philippine society.

Catholics and Christians in general reject the idea of dissolution of marriage or divorce. This is because Christian doctrine asserts that marriage is a Divine Institution that God himself gave to man as a gift after God created man and made him in His own image. Jesus Christ himself elevated marriage to the dignity of a sacrament.

Thus to a Catholic Christian, marriage is a covenant- a special contract between two baptized persons, a male and a female, where the terms of the contract do not simply involve exchange of services or goods, but the exchange of the persons executing the contract themselves.The contract is in effect as long as both are alive, and is terminated only by the death of one of the parties.

Catholics believe that a Catholic marriage is valid and sacramental at the same time when all the requirements are fulfilled.

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Photo credit: The Summit Express

Statement Calling for a Senate Investigation Into the Death of Kian Loyd Delos Santos and Overhaul of the Government’s Anti-Drugs Campaign

We, the undersigned academics, teachers, analysts and researchers are issuing this joint statement to call on the Senate to open an investigation into the death of seventeen-year-old Grade 11 student Kian Loyd Delos Santos.

Kian Loyd is among a growing number of children and youth who have been killed as a result of the government’s anti-drugs campaign. The long and still growing list includes 4-year-old Althea Barbon of Negros Occidental, and two 5-year-old children–Danica May Garcia, an honor student from Pangasinan, as well as Francisco Manosca, who was gunned down with his father in Pasay City.

Whether killed by police, or murdered, allegedly, by unknown assailants, the senseless deaths of so many of our youth and thousands of our citizens are a signal of the worsening environment of violence and lawlessness that now threatens the very communities that the anti-drugs campaign was supposed to protect.

Continue reading

Stop Killing the Poor!

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;  look, and see our disgrace!
(Lamentations, 5: 1)

We, the Redemptorists of the Philippines composed of the Vice-Province Manila and Province of Cebu, express our outrage for the recent spate of killings in line with the government’s war on drugs. As missionaries dedicated to serving the poor and the most abandoned, we condemn the war on drugs as a war on the poor. Most of the victims of extra-judicial killings are poor people. The police have become more relentless as the President himself had on many occasions incited the police to carry out a murderous war on the poor and admitted that the target of his war on drugs is the poor.

On the other hand, rich drug lords and politicians coddlers of drug suppliers are given the full extent of the due process of law. 6.4 billion pesos worth of shabu freely entered the country due to the connections of the rich drug lords to politicians and Custom officials. In all of these, there was no howl from the President and other high ranking government officials.

As Christians, we are appalled by the utter loss of respect for the dignity of life and human rights of the police operations. We are utterly distressed that in a Christian country like ours, the killings is tolerated, even supported. We dread the reality that a split-level kind of faith exists among our people. Such faith sees no connection between the gospel values and the wellspring of Christian faith and the suffering and killings of the people.

As Filipinos we are gravely concerned with the kind of society we have become. What kind of people have we become? After more than a year of the war on drugs, our country has turned into a big killing field. Death is the order of the day. A culture of killing with impunity is the new normality.  On the other hand, a culture of silence and a climate of fear prevail. In the midst of the daily killings, many people go on with their lives, show no empathy to the victims and accept the government war on drugs as necessary evil.

Condemning the war on drugs does not undermine our stance against drug. Even before the Duterte government, we have denounced the menace of drug addictions in our proclamations and programs. We did not just denounce, however; we also organized programs and services to victims of drug addiction like counselling, livelihood projects and community support mechanisms.

We call on the government to respect the law and uphold life. We call on the government to stop the killings. The “war on drugs” which in reality is a war on the poor has to end. Now!  Continue reading

Young Filipinos at the forefront of protests demanding an end to police operations that have snuffed out thousands of lives. (Photo by Mark Saludes)

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan condemns Duterte’s bloody war on drugs

Vincent Go and Mark Saludes, UCAN Manila Philippines

August 24, 2017

A Philippine bishop likened a northern Manila suburb to Cambodia’s “killing fields” Aug. 23 as he encouraged grieving families to file cases against abusive police implementing President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan’s latest denunciation of the bloody campaign came as Duterte’s aides tried to defuse a public outcry over the Aug. 16 killing — caught on camera — of 17-year-old student Kian de los Santos in a community in Bishop David’s diocese.

At a press conference, Bishop David said the killing of de los Santos was not an isolated case, contrary to the government’s claim.

The bishop said he has heard from many families of people who died because they allegedly resisted arrest. Many witnesses have also seen police shoot people begging for their lives, he added.

Bishop David also questioned the lack of official response to roaming teams of killers in black clothing.

The bishop hinted at tacit government approval of vigilante groups.

“They roam our streets, especially in the informal settler communities, every night,” Bishop David said. “And I don’t know why they are invisible.”

There has been little official action on what police call “deaths under investigation,” which make up two-thirds of the 12,000 killings related to drugs in the past year.

Duterte on Aug. 22 said he would not attend De los Santos’ wake because he did not want to judge police involved until after a Justice Department probe.

He said Aug. 21 that any police found guilty by the courts would be jailed and not granted a presidential pardon he often promises for those implementing his drug war.

On Aug. 23, representatives of foreign governments called for an impartial probe into the killing.

Forensic experts from the public attorney’s office have said De los Santos was shot three times, twice in the head, while he lay prone on the ground.

Police suspects have also admitted they were holding De los Santos as per the footage caught by village street cameras.

Even Duterte’s popular ally, boxer and pro-death penalty senator, Manny Pacquiao, condemned the “excessive and unnecessary deaths” in the year-old campaign.

National defense chief Delfin Lorenza urged Filipinos to stay calm as he criticized the conduct of the police who killed De los Santos in Caloocan City.

“Whether or not he was involved in the use or trafficking of illegal drugs, he did not deserve to die in the manner that he did,” Lorenzana said in a statement.

National police chief Ronald de la Rosa has removed the police district commander who earlier claimed the video showed another suspect.

Despite the outcry, Duterte vowed to step up his anti-drug campaign and challenged his critics.

Military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla downplayed a statement by an anonymous group called Patriotic and Democratic Movement (PADEM), which urged soldiers and police to oppose Duterte.

“The entire [military] along with all the men and women of the uniformed services and all our civilian personnel stand by the constitutionally mandated government and unequivocally supports the commander-in-chief,” Padilla said.

The PADEM statement accused Duterte of treating the security services as private armies, inciting police to engage in extra-judicial killings and having family and friends among top drug lords.

photo credit: Rome Reports

“Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating migrants and refugees”

Dear brothers and sisters!

“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34).

Throughout the first years of my pontificate, I have repeatedly expressed my particular concern for the lamentable situation of many migrants and refugees fleeing from war, persecution, natural disasters and poverty.  This situation is undoubtedly a “sign of the times” which I have tried to interpret, with the helpof the Holy Spirit, ever since my visit to Lampedusa on 8 July 2013.  When I instituted the new Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, I wanted a particular section – under my personal direction for the time being – to express the Church’s concern for migrants, displaced people, refugees and victims of human trafficking.

Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ, who identifies with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every age (Matthew 25:35-43).  The Lord entrusts to the Church’s motherly love every person forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future.[1]  This solidarity must be concretely expressed at every stage of the migratory experience – from departure through journey to arrival and return.  This is a great responsibility, which the Church intends to share with all believers and men and women of good will, who are called to respond to the many challenges of contemporary migration with generosity, promptness, wisdom and foresight, each according to their own abilities.

In this regard, I wish to reaffirm that “our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate”.[2]

Considering the current situation, welcoming means, above all, offering broader options for migrants and refugees to enter destination countries safely and legally.  This calls for a concrete commitment to increase and simplify the process for granting humanitarian visas and for reunifying families.  At the same time, I hope that a greater number of countries will adopt private and community sponsorship programmes, and open humanitarian corridors for particularly vulnerable refugees.  Furthermore, special temporary visas should be granted to people fleeing conflicts in neighbouring countries.  Collective and arbitrary expulsions of migrants and refugees are not suitable solutions, particularly where people are returned to countries which cannot guarantee respect for human dignity and fundamental rights.[3]  Once again, I want to emphasise the importance of offering migrants and refugees adequate and dignified initial accommodation.  “More widespread programmes of welcome, already initiated in different places, seem to favour a personal encounter and allow for greater quality of service and increased guarantees of success”.[4]  The principle of the centrality of the human person, firmly stated by my beloved Predecessor, Benedict XVI,[5] obliges us to always prioritise personal safety over national security.  It is necessary, therefore, to ensure that agents in charge of border control areproperly trained.  The situation of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees requires that they be guaranteed personal safety and access to basic services.  For the sake of the fundamental dignity of every human person, we must strive to find alternative solutions to detention for those who enter a country without authorisation.[6]

The second verb – protecting – may be understood as a series of steps intended to defend the rights and dignity of migrants and refugees, independent of their legal status.[7]  Such protection begins in the country of origin, and consists in offering reliable and verified information before departure, and in providing safety from illegal recruitment practices.[8]  This must be ongoing, as far as possible, in the country of migration, guaranteeing them adequate consular assistance, the right to personally retain their documents of identification at all times, fair access to justice, the possibility of opening a personal bank account, and a minimum sufficient to live on.  When duly recognised and valued, the potential and skills of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are a true resource for the communities that welcome them.[9]  This is why I hope that, in countries of arrival, migrants may be offered freedom of movement, work opportunities, and access to means of communication, out of respect for their dignity.  For those who decide to return to their homeland, I want to emphasise the need to develop social and professional reintegration programmes.  The International Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a universal legal basis for the protection of underage migrants.  They must be spared any form of detention related to migratory status, and must be guaranteed regular access to primary and secondary education.  Equally, when they come of age they must be guaranteed the right to remain and to enjoy the possibility of continuing their studies.  Temporary custody or foster programmes should be provided for unaccompanied minors and minors separated from their families.[10]  The universal right to a nationality should be recognised and duly certified for all children at birth.  The statelessness which migrants and refugees sometimes fall into can easily be avoided with the adoption of “nationality legislation that is in conformity with the fundamental principles of international law”.[11]  Migratory status should not limit access to national healthcare and pension plans, nor affect the transfer of their contributions if repatriated.

Promoting essentially means a determined effort to ensure that all migrants and refugees – as well as the communities which welcome them – are empowered to achieve their potential as human beings, in all the dimensions which constitute the humanity intended by the Creator.[12]  Among these, we must recognize the true value of the religious dimension, ensuring to all foreigners in any country the freedom of religious belief and practice.   Many migrants and refugees have abilities which must be appropriately recognised and valued.  Since “work, by its nature, is meant to unite peoples”,[13] I encourage a determined effort to promote the social and professional inclusion of migrants and refugees, guaranteeing for all – including those seeking asylum – the possibility of employment, language instruction and active citizenship, together with sufficient information provided in their mother tongue.  In the case of underage migrants, their involvement in labour must be regulated to prevent exploitation and risks to their normal growth and development. In 2006, Benedict XVI highlighted how, in the context of migration, the family is “a place and resource of the culture of life and a factor for the integration of values”.[14]  The family’s integrity must always be promoted, supporting family reunifications – including grandparents, grandchildren and siblings – independent of financial requirements.  Migrants, asylum seekers and refugees with disabilities must be granted greater assistance and support.  While I recognize the praiseworthy efforts, thus far, of many countries, in terms of international cooperation and humanitarian aid, I hope that the offering of this assistance will take into account the needs (such as medical and social assistance, as well as education) of developing countries which receive a significant influx of migrants and refugees.  I also hope that local communities which are vulnerable and facing material hardship, will be included among aid beneficiaries.[15]

The final verb – integrating – concerns the opportunities for intercultural enrichment brought about by the presence of migrants and refugees.  Integration is not “an assimilation that leads migrants to suppress or to forget their own cultural identity. Rather, contact with others leads to discovering their ‘secret’, to being open to them in order to welcome their valid aspects and thus contribute to knowing each one better.  This is a lengthy process that aims to shape societies and cultures, making them more and more a reflection of the multi-faceted gifts of God to human beings”.[16]  This process can be accelerated by granting citizenship free of financial or linguistic requirements, and by offering the possibility of special legalisation to migrants who can claim a long period of residence in the country of arrival.  I reiterate the need to foster a culture of encounter in every way possible – by increasing opportunities for intercultural exchange, documenting and disseminating best practices of integration, and developing programmes to prepare local communities for integration processes.   I wish to stress the special case of people forced to abandon their country of arrival due to a humanitarian crisis.  These people must be ensured adequate assistance for repatriation and effective reintegration programmes in their home countries.

In line with her pastoral tradition, the Church is ready to commit herself to realising all the initiatives proposed above.  Yet in order to achieve the desired outcome, the contribution of political communities and civil societies is indispensable, each according to their own responsibilities.

At the United Nations Summit held in New York on 29 September 2016, world leaders clearly expressed their desire to take decisive action in support of migrants and refugees to save their lives and protect their rights, sharing this responsibility on a global level.  To this end, the states committed themselves to drafting and approving, before the end of 2018, two Global Compacts, one for refugees and the other for migrants.

Dear brothers and sisters, in light of these processes currently underway, the coming months offer a unique opportunity to advocate and support the concrete actions which I have described with four verbs.  I invite you, therefore, to use every occasion to share this message with all political and social actors involved (or who seek to be involved) in the process which will lead to the approval of the two Global Compacts.

Today, 15 August, we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.  The Holy Mother of God herself experienced the hardship of exile (Matthew 2:13-15), lovingly accompanied her Son’s journey to Calvary, and now shares eternally his glory.  To her maternal intercession we entrust the hopes of all the world’s migrants and refugees and the aspirations of the communities which welcome them, so that, responding to the Lord’s supreme commandment, we may all learn to love the other, the stranger, as ourselves.

Vatican City, 15 August 2017
Solemnity of the Assumption of the B.V. Mary

Concept Note Walk for Creation | Invitation Letter Walk for Creation | Solicitation Letter Walk for Creation