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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received participants in the Roman Roundtable of the Global Foundation on Saturday.

Based in Melbourne, Australia, the Global Foundation is a worldwide network of concerned citizen-leaders in areas of commerce, industry, law, policy and intellectual endeavour, who seek to enable people from many walks of life to meet and work together in addressing the principal challenges of this moment in history.

The “Rome Roundtable” brought 50 invited participants and a number of observers from the business and investment community, religious leaders, civic insstitutions, academia and civil society, to Rome for a two-day meeting January 13^th and 14^th, to measure progress and report on the concrete actions taken on global economic, social and environmental matters, such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Below, please find the full text of Pope Francis’ prepared remarks to the participants, in their official English translation

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Address of His Holiness Pope Francis

to the Round Table of The Global Foundation

14 January 2017

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to join you for this new edition of the Roman Roundtable of The Global Foundation.  Inspired by the Foundation’s motto – “Together We Strive for the Global Common Good” – you have gathered to discern just ways of attaining a globalization that is “cooperative”, and thus positive, as opposed to the globalization of indifference.  You seek to ensure that the global community, shaped by the institutions, agencies and representatives of civil society, can effectively achieve international goals and obligations that have been solemnly declared and assumed, such as those of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Before all else, I would restate my conviction that a world economic system that discards men, women and children because they are no longer considered useful or productive according to criteria drawn from the world of business or other organizations, is unacceptable, because it is inhumane.  This lack of concern for persons is a sign of regression and dehumanization in any political or economic system.  Those who cause or allow others to be discarded – whether refugees, children who are abused or enslaved, or the poor who die on our streets in cold weather – become themselves like soulless machines.  For they implicitly accept the principle that they too, sooner or later, will be discarded, when they no longer prove useful to a society that has made mammon, the god of money, the centre of its attention.

In 1991, Saint John Paul II, responding to the fall of oppressive political systems and the progressive integration of markets that we have come to call globalization, warned of the risk that an ideology of capitalism would become widespread.  This would entail little or no interest for the realities of marginalization, exploitation and human alienation, a lack of concern for the great numbers of people still living in conditions of grave material and moral poverty, and a blind faith in the unbridled development of market forces alone.  My Predecessor asked if such an economic system would be the model to propose to those seeking the road to genuine economic and social progress, and offered a clearly negative response.  This is not the way (cf. Centesimus Annus, 42).

Sadly, the dangers that troubled Saint John Paul II have largely come to pass.  At the same time, we have seen the spread of many concrete efforts on the part of individuals and institutions to reverse the ills produced by an irresponsible globalization.  Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whom I had the joy of canonizing several months ago, and who is a symbol and icon of our time, in some way represents and recapitulates those efforts.  She bent down to comfort the poorest of the poor, left to die on the streets, recognizing in each of them their God-given dignity.  She was accepting of every human life, whether unborn or abandoned and discarded, and she made her voice heard by the powers of this world, calling them to acknowledge the crimes of poverty that they themselves were responsible for (cf. Homily for the Canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, 4 September 2016).

This is the first attitude leading to fraternal and cooperative globalization.  It is necessary above all for each of us, personally, to overcome our indifference to the needs of the poor.  We need to learn “com-passion” for those suffering from persecution, loneliness, forced displacement or separation from their families.  We need to learn to “suffer with” those who lack access to health care, or who endure hunger, cold or heat.

This compassion will enable those with responsibilities in the worlds of finance and politics to use their intelligence and their resources not merely to control and monitor the effects of globalization, but also to help leaders at different political levels – regional, national and international – to correct its orientation whenever necessary.  For politics and the economy ought to include the exercise of the virtue of prudence.

The Church remains ever hopeful, for she is conscious of the immense potential of the human mind whenever it lets itself be helped and guided by God, and of the good will present in so many people, small and great, poor and rich, businessmen and labourers alike.  For this reason, I encourage you to draw constant inspiration from the Church’s social teaching as you continue your efforts to promote a cooperative globalization, working with civil society, governments, international bodies, academic and scientific communities, and all other interested parties.  I offer you my cordial good wishes for every success in your endeavours.

I thank all of you for your attention and I assure you of my prayers.  I also ask you to bring my personal greetings, together with my blessing, to your families and all your associates.

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The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops(KCCB) has appealed to striking doctors to resume essential medical duties to save lives.

“We appeal to their conscience to be able to resume essential medical duties, even to a limited extent as the Union continues negotiations with the relevant Government organs,” said the bishops in a press statement released this week.

In the statement titled, “The Poor are dying,” the bishops noted that the on-going grandstanding and chest thumping by the Doctors’ Union on one hand and the National and County Governments on the other, enhances the hopelessness of the sad and worrisome situation being experienced in Kenya today.

Doctors in public hospitals in Kenya went on strike on 5 December 2016 over the Governments’ failure to honour a Collective Bargaining Agreement of 2013 that would have given them a 300 percent salary increments.

The doctors’ strike has led to the loss of lives and suffering among patients who cannot afford private hospitals.

“We, the Catholic Bishops of Kenya, continue to express our deep concern over the on-going Doctors’ strike that continues to cause Kenyans unimaginable pain, misery and suffering, including immense loss of life,” the bishops said.

While thanking other healthcare workers in the private and public sector who have continued their services despite the call to down their tools, the bishops noted the contributions of non-state medical institutions that have gone out of their way to help.

The Bishops have availed themselves for mediation and have urged the County Governments to create an environment suitable for dialogue in order to bring an end to this stalemate.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) recently brushed off attempts by the national and county governments to force them back to work.

A Kenyan court handed down a one-month suspended jail term to union officials over the doctors’ strike.

The medics have so far rejected a 40 percent pay rise offer from the government, demanding the full implementation of the 2013 CBA. Earlier the government threatened to fire all striking medical personnel if they do not return to work.

 (CISA in Nairobi)

email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio) Forcefully reiterating his call for the protection of vulnerable child migrants, Pope Francis has dedicated his message for this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees to children.

“Child Migrants, the Vulnerable and the Voiceless” is the title of the message for this World Day, celebrated on January 15th, in which Francis asks everyone to take care of the young “who in a threefold way are defenseless: they are children, they are foreigners, and they have no means to protect themselves”.
    
More and more children are crossing borders on their own. A recent United Nations report revealed that over 100,000 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum in 78 countries in 2015– that’s triple the number of 2014.

The report also pointed out that child migrants travelling alone are among those at the highest risk of exploitation and abuse, including by smugglers and traffickers. This too is a reality Pope Francis reflected on in depth as he condemned the abuse of children whom – he said - are “prey to unscrupulous exploiters who often transform them into the object of physical, moral and sexual violence”.

The International Director of Jesuit Refugee Service, Father Tom Smolich SJ, spoke to Linda Bordoni about the Pope’s message, about the work carried forward by JRS across the globe, about his concern for increasing numbers of child migrants and the xenophobic political trends or our time that result in more walls and less welcome.

Click below to hear our conversation with Fr. Tom Smolich, SJ

Father Tom Smolich speaks of his appreciation for Pope Francis’ focus on the needs and reality of child migrants whom, he too says “are the most vulnerable”.

“Certainly the statistics would tell us that approximately half of those who are refugees and forced migrants are under the age of 18, so we are talking about a large number of young men and women; a lot of them are unaccompanied migrants, especially children leaving places like Eritrea where their folks tell them to go and don’t ask where they are so they can’t be tracked down. Something we are increasingly seeing in Central America now, where the children head north and the parents head south, just out of fear of what can be done in terms of the violence there” he says.

Smolich also says the point Pope Francis makes at the end of his message when he calls for “protection, integration and long-term solutions” is right in line with JRS’s decades-long experience in caring and advocating for refugees.

He points out that protection and integration go hand in hand and speaks of how JRS’s focus on education is rooted in the belief that education both “protects and enables young people to participate in the societies they are currently living in, and will be part of, in the future”.

Smolich expresses his concern for current political trends both in Europe and in the US which are  resulting in the closing of borders and a growing culture of “non-welcome”.

“How could one not be concerned? The needs of people on the move are huge right now. Many of the countries  who are raising walls are the one’s also producing the guns, the ammunition and the weapons of destruction that are at the root of so much going on” he says.

He also reveals he is looking at the conversation going on in his own country – the US – about whether to build a wall, whether to exclude Muslims, whether to end the status of some 750,000 young immigrants who were brought over as children and who have been given rights under a Presidential Order that the incoming President could change. 

“There’s a real vulnerability here, and again: the children are always the most vulnerable” he says.

What Pope Francis is saying – Smolich points out -  is “remember this through the perspective of the eyes of a child; remember what this does to children”. 
    
The JRS International Director also reflects on the Pope’s call to deal with the issue of trafficking and the vulnerability of children in this regard. He says unfortunately his staff often comes across situations of young boys and girls who have been trafficked, and highlight how being on the move makes them especially vulnerable.

He talks about JRS’s “Mercy in Motion” campaign which was launched in response to Pope Francis’ invitation to put ‘mercy into action’ during the just-ended Jubilee Year.

“We felt, as JRS, our goal was to increase our education, especially for young people (…) Our goal remains to increase by 2020 the number of young people we serve by 100,000” he says.

Smolich says the organization continues to work on the fulfillment of this goal and reveals that JRS has become responsible for all refugee education in Eastern Chad where the focus is mainly on girls because “a girl who is in school at 14 is protected, she’s learning, she doesn’t get married early, she doesn’t become a victim of survival sex, she learns skills that will help her in the years to come.”

He elaborates on the continuing “Global Education Initiative” for which JRS is still raising money and says one of the current hotspots that have been identified is Northern Uganda where young South Sudanese refugees are pouring over the border in need of protection and skills for their future.

Smolich also speaks of JRS’s commitment wherever there is need and talks about its presence in Syria where it has programmes in Aleppo, in Homs and in Damascus.

He says that in Aleppo JRS does primarily food assistance and general health care, while in Homs and in Damascus the focus is mainly on child protection and education.

“When I visited Homs (…) I went to see the education programme. I was moved to see about a dozen young people – 9, 10 maybe 12-years-old – being taught by someone I then discovered was a Syrian chess champion who was teaching them chess. I was very moved by that because one doesn’t teach chess unless you see a long-term future; if it’s only for the short-term, you’re teaching checkers. If you are teaching chess and you are learning chess, you’re saying: ‘there is a future for these people’. And that is the image that stays with me. Children deserve to be able to learn chess, children deserve to be able to envision a future” he says.

Smolich points that it is the responsibility of all of us who are responding to Pope Francis’ message to make sure that there is a genuine future for those most in need of our protection.
         
   

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received participants in the Roman Roundtable of the Global Foundation on Saturday.

Based in Melbourne, Australia, the Global Foundation is a worldwide network of concerned citizen-leaders in areas of commerce, industry, law, policy and intellectual endeavour, who seek to enable people from many walks of life to meet and work together in addressing the principal challenges of this moment in history.

Click below to hear our report

The “Rome Roundtable” brought 50 invited participants and a number of observers from the business and investment community, religious leaders, civic insstitutions, academia and civil society, to Rome for a two-day meeting January 13^th and 14^th, to measure progress and report on the concrete actions taken on global economic, social and environmental matters, such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

In remarks to the participants on Saturday in the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis reiterated his opposition to a global economic system that tends to degrade the human person.

“A world economic system that discards men, women and children because they are no longer considered useful or productive according to criteria drawn from the world of business or other organizations,” said Pope Francis, “is unacceptable, because it is inhumane.” The Pope went on to say, “This lack of concern for persons is a sign of regression and dehumanization in any political or economic system.”

The Holy Father called on participants to study and to learn from the Church’s social doctrine.

“Draw constant inspiration from the Church’s social teaching,” he said, “as you continue your efforts to promote a cooperative globalization, working with civil society, governments, international bodies, academic and scientific communities, and all other interested parties.”

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The incessant clashes between farmers and pastoralists is a clear indication that the old fashioned way of raising livestock through the so-called livestock routes and grazing reserves is outdated and unsustainable, hence the urgent need for the establishment of ranches by land owners for rent to those with livestock but without land, Archbishop Mathew Man’Oso Ndagoso  has said.

Archbishop Ndagoso who is the Metropolitan of Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province stated this in his homily recently at the Centenary ground of Shendam Diocese during the celebration  of the Episcopal ordination and installation Mass of Bishop Philip Davou Dung as the Second Catholic Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Shendam.

The prelate who identified the root causes of the incessant deadly clashes between farmers and herdsmen as the constant movement of herders and pastoralists in search of greener pastures for their animals urged the government as a matter of urgency to establish ranches in the country.

“We urge all those concerned, to, as a matter of urgency, to do the needful to encourage the creation of the enabling environment for the gradual establishment of ranches by governments, communities, and individuals to help curb the ugly trend that is threatening the corporate existence of our country.” Archbishop Ndagoso noted

Archbishop Mathew Ndagoso reinstated the position of the Catholic Bishops of Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province on the matter by quoting their joint statement:

“Going forward, we must note that the debate about herdsmen and pastoralists is a debate about the future of our human survival, environment and our country. We must abandon the old practice of herdsmen moving in droves across the country especially given the violence this has unleashed on our people. Today, entire communities have been destroyed, and the anger in the land is palpable. We are convinced that the only way forward is for the government to arrest this drift of herdsmen and their animals by exploring the options of creating Ranches instead of grazing reserves. We believe that the creation of Ranches will make both economic and humane sense for our people.”

Recently the Archbishop of Jos and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Ignatius Kaigama, expressed what he termed as disbelief and anger at the “casual and deliberate manner” in which lives of innocent citizens were being lost in Nigeria. His reaction was a result of news of mass killings in Southern Kaduna which took place during the Christmas period.

The killings have been attributed to Fulani herdsmen.

Soon after the killings, the Vicar-General of Kafanchan Catholic Archdiocese, Fr. Ibrahim Yakubu said 808 persons had lost their lives during the feroicious attack that is also said to have destroyed 1,422 houses, 16 Churches, 19 shops and one primary school.

On Friday, this week Nigeria’s Premium Times quoted  the Nigerian government finally releasing its own tally.

The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA said 204 people were killed in the Southern Kaduna crisis.

(Catholic News Service, Nigeria/ Vatican Radio)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met Saturday morning with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican. Following the audience, the Holy See Press Office issued the following press release: 

This morning the Holy Father Francis received in audience His Excellency Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the State of Palestine, who subsequently met with His Eminence Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by His Excellency Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States. 

During the cordial discussions, the parties evoked the existing good relations between the Holy See and Palestine, sealed by the Global Agreement of 2015, which regards essential aspects of the life and activity of the Church in Palestinian society. In this context, mention was made of the important contribution of Catholics to favouring the promotion of human dignity and assistance for those most in need, especially in the fields of education, health and aid. 

Attention then turned to the peace process in the Middle East, and hope was expressed that direct negotiations between the Parties may be resumed to bring an end to the violence that causes unacceptable suffering to civilian populations, and to find a just and lasting solution. To this end, it is hoped that, with the support of the international community, measures can be taken that favour mutual trust and contribute to creating a climate that permits courageous decisions to be made in favour of peace. Emphasis was placed on the importance of safeguarding the sanctity of the Holy Places for believers of all three of the Abrahamic religions. Finally, particular attention was dedicated to the other conflicts affecting the region.

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Vatican City, Jan 14, 2017 / 04:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Saturday warned of growing harmful trends throughout political and financial realms, pinning them on the negative effects of globalization and insisting that authentic compassion is the only thing that can really overcome indifference.

Francis opened his speech with a bang, saying “a world economic system that discards men, women and children because they are no longer considered useful or productive according to criteria drawn from the world of business or other organizations, is unacceptable, because it is inhumane.”

This lack of concern for people is a sign of “regression and dehumanization in any political or economic system,” he said, explaining that those who either cause or allow others to be discarded – whether they be migrants, exploited children or poor who die on the streets – become like “soulless machines.”

“We need to learn ‘com-passion’ for those suffering from persecution, loneliness, forced displacement or separation from their families,” and how to suffer alongside “those who lack access to health care, or who endure hunger, cold or heat,” he said.

Having this type of compassion, the Pope continued, will enable financial and political powers “to use their intelligence and their resources” not only to monitor the effects of globalization, but to help leaders at all political levels “to correct its orientation whenever necessary.”

Pope Francis spoke to members of a delegation from the “Round Table” of the Global Foundation, an Australian organization dedicated to not only providing a platform to address modern problems such as the environment, hunger and conflict, but also partnering with leaders in ensuring progress is being made.

In his speech, the Pope noted how in 1991 when St. John Paul II was responding to the fall of various oppressive political systems at the time as well as the “progressive integration of markets” more commonly known as globalization, the Polish Pope “warned of the risk that an ideology of capitalism would become widespread.”

This ideology would entail “little or no interest for the realities of marginalization, exploitation and human alienation, a lack of concern for the great numbers of people still living in conditions of grave material and moral poverty, and a blind faith in the unbridled development of market forces alone,” he said.

John Paul II, he recalled, asked if an economic system such as this would eventually become the model proposed to those seeking economic and social progress. In giving his own answer to the question, Francis noted, John Paul “offered a clearly negative response. This is not the way."

“Sadly, the dangers that troubled Saint John Paul II have largely come to pass,” he said. However, at the same time real efforts are being made by both individuals and institutions to reverse the unhealthy trends that are developing, he said, citing Mother Teresa as one of them.

Calling her “a symbol and icon of our time,” Francis pointed to how the newly canonized Saint “bent down to comfort the poorest of the poor, left to die on the streets, recognizing in each of them their God-given dignity.”

“She was accepting of every human life, whether unborn or abandoned and discarded, and she made her voice heard by the powers of this world,” he said, explaining that this must be “the first attitude leading to fraternal and cooperative globalization.”

The Pope stressed that if we want to follow on this path, each of us must first of all personally “overcome our indifference to the needs of the poor.”

Francis closed his address ensuring the Church’s awareness of the “immense potential of the human mind” when it lets itself be both helped and guided by God, as well as the good will of people from all states and situations in life.

He encouraged attendees to “draw constant inspiration from the Church’s social teaching” as move forward in promoting “a cooperative globalization, working with civil society, governments, international bodies, academic and scientific communities, and all other interested parties.”

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Vatican City, Jan 14, 2017 / 05:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited the Vatican Saturday before inaugurating his country’s new embassy to the Holy See, where he met with Pope Francis for a discussion focused largely on peace efforts in the Middle East.

Described as “cordial” in Jan. 14 communique from the Vatican, the discussion between the two began by making note of the good relations they enjoy, which were “sealed” by a Global Agreement made by them in 2015 recognizing the “essential aspects” of the life and activity of the Church in Palestine.

“In this context, mention was made of the important contribution of Catholics to favoring the promotion of human dignity and assistance for those most in need, especially in the fields of education, health and aid,” the communique read.

Conversation then shifted to the peace process in the Middle East, and hope was voiced that direct negotiations between the different parties “may be resumed to bring an end to the violence that causes unacceptable suffering to civilian populations, and to find a just and lasting solution.”

“To this end, it is hoped that, with the support of the international community, measures can be taken that favor mutual trust and contribute to creating a climate that permits courageous decisions to be made in favor of peace.”

An emphasis was also placed on the importance of “safeguarding the sanctity” of Holy Sites, which are frequently a source of division and conflict between the different faiths in the area, as well as other conflicts affecting the region.

After his 23 minute meeting with the Pope, Abbas then met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.

He arrived at the Vatican at 10:10a.m. with his 10-15 person delegation and was met by the Pope, who told him in Spanish “It is a pleasure to receive you.” The president responded, saying “I am happy to be here.”

Pope Francis gifted the president the official medal for the Jubilee of Mercy as well as a copy of Amoris Laetitia and Laudato Si, telling Abbas they had been translated.

For his part, Abbas gave the Pope five gifts: an icon of the face of Jesus, a stone from the site of Golgotha in the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, a golden icon of the Holy Family, the book “Palestine and the Holy See” and a documentation of the work being done in restoring the Basilica of the Nativity.

When they sat down at the desk before the start of the meeting, the Pope told Abbas “things are arriving to me (from your area), and at a certain point in the discussion the president spoke to the Pope about the new embassy, telling Francis it’s a “sign that the Pope loves the Palestinian people and loves peace.”

The president was in Rome to inaugurate the new Palestinian embassy to the Holy See, just one year after the Holy See-Palestine agreement, signed May 13, 2015, took effect and made official the Holy See's recognition of the State of Palestine.

The fact that the Holy See referred to its agreement with “the State of Palestine” rather than the Palestinian Liberation Authority or another title, immediately gained international attention.

It was hoped that the agreement will encourage the international community to acknowledge an independent State of Palestine, alongside Israel.

In addition to referring to Palestine as a State, the Vatican-Palestinian agreement also recognized freedom of religion in Palestine, and outlined the rights and obligations of the Church, its agencies, and its personnel in the territory. The comprehensive agreement followed upon a “basic agreement” that was signed in February 2000.

The bilateral commission was established after the Holy See and the Palestine Liberation Organization strengthened official relations. After the 2000 agreement, negotiations between the parties picked up again in 2010, with the aim of completing the basic agreement.

In his Jan. 9 speech to the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See Pope Francis renewed his appeal for Israel and Palestine to resume dialogue aimed at “a stable and enduring solution that guarantees the peaceful coexistence of two States within internationally recognized borders.”

“No conflict can become a habit impossible to break. Israelis and Palestinians need peace. The whole Middle East urgently needs peace!”

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Washington D.C., Jan 14, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump has raised questions about the future of immigration reform, but the nation’s Catholic bishops remain hopeful.

“We also find it important that we engage the present incoming administration,” Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said Jan. 12. “We think it is highly important that we as bishops make known what is taking place in our country and how to address those possibilities.”

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the U.S. bishops’ conference president, even voiced confidence.

“I actually think this may be a very good time to pursue all the goals that we’ve had all along,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “This is a new moment, with a new Congress, a new administration. And therefore we should up our expectations and move very carefully, but clearly, on comprehensive immigration reform.”

Leading U.S. bishops and bishops’ conference officials spoke with reporters Jan. 12 to mark National Migration Week, a nearly 50-year-old celebration that encourages the Church to reflect on the situations facing immigrants, refugees, children, and victims of human trafficking.

President-elect Trump, who takes office next week, campaigned on several strong anti-immigration policies, including talk of deportation, strict enforcement of immigration law and a famous promise to build a wall on the Mexico border and make Mexico pay for it.

Bishop Vasquez said that the rhetoric of wall-building is “not the place where we’d want to start our conversation on immigration.”

He said the bishops advocated humane policy and laws that take into consideration the need to keep families together and to help those who have come to the U.S. at a young age.

Cardinal DiNardo said the bishops’ concerns focus on immigration reform.

“As of right now, we haven’t (discussed) too much on the wall situation,” he said, voicing greater concern for the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, President Barack Obama’s executive action which allowed millions of immigrants who met certain standards to stay in the U.S. The program especially benefitted those who had arrived in the U.S. without documentation while being under age 18.

Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, vice president of the bishops’ conference, said the conference is trying to have a conversation with Trump’s transition team.

“Obviously we continue to help our elected officials to understand the issue,” he said, noting there are “many challenges” regarding immigration.

“But I hope that we are going to make progress this year,” he continued. “Immigration reform is about people. It’s not about politics, it’s about fathers and mothers and children and brothers and sisters.”

Ashley Feasely, policy director of the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services, also reflected on upcoming priorities.

“There are many still in Congress who believe that immigration reform is a possibility,” she said. “And I think there are individuals in the incoming White House who are interested in seeing reform. I think it’s important that we continue to engage at the state and local level, with Congress, and the new administration to show the need to reform our broken system.”

For Bishop Vasquez, National Migration Week is a chance to highlight Catholics’ mission to welcome newcomers.

“In Matthew 25, Jesus specifically says, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’,” he said.  “Those words are applied to our immigrants. Jesus identifies with them completely.”

He noted that many migrants leave difficult situations including violence and gang warfare. Some have survived human trafficking.

“It’s important that we see them not as problems, but as persons,” he said.

Archbishop Gomez reflected on Pope Francis’ message for National Migration Week.

“He reminds us of the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and that she is our mother, and that we should not be afraid, because we are not alone,” the archbishop said. “It was a beautiful message of hope. I feel that is what we need right now. More hope for the future.”

 

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