The Jubilee of Migrants acknowledges and celebrates the gifts, contributions, and resilience that migrant communities bring to our Church and the world. It is also an opportunity to highlight the image of the Church as a place of refuge, welcome, integration, and solidarity.
“History teaches us that the contribution of migrants and refugees has been fundamental to the social and economic growth of our societies. This continues to be true in our own day. Their work, their youth, their enthusiasm and their willingness to sacrifice enrich the communities that receive them,”
(Pope Francis’ Message for the 108th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2022).
PRAYER
Lord, make us bearers of hope,
so that where there is darkness,
your light may shine,
and where there is discouragement,
confidence in the future may be reborn.
Lord, make us instruments of your justice,
so that where there is exclusion, fraternity may flourish,
and where there is greed, a spirit of sharing may grow.
Lord, make us builders of your Kingdom,
together with migrants and refugees
and with all who dwell on the peripheries.
Lord, let us learn how beautiful it is
to live together as brothers and sisters.
Amen.
(From Pope Francis’ Message for the 108th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2022)
TEACHING
From Erga migrantes caritas Christi (The love of Christ towards migrants), Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (2004):
“101. Faced with the vast movement of people, with the phenomenon of human mobility, considered by some as the new “credo” of contemporary man, faith reminds us how we are all pilgrims on our way towards our true homeland. “Christian life is essentially a living through the Passover with Christ, or a journey, a sublime migration towards total Communion of the Kingdom of God” (CMU 10). All the history of the Church illustrates its passion and its holy zeal for this humanity on the move.
“The “foreigner” is God’s messenger who surprises us and interrupts the regularity and logic of daily life, bringing near those who are far away. In “foreigners” the Church sees Christ who “pitches His tent among us” (cf. Jn 1:14) and who “knocks at our door” (cf. Ap 3:20). This meeting – characterised by attention, welcome, sharing and solidarity, by the protection of the rights of migrants and of commitment to evangelise – reveals the constant solicitude of the Church, which discovers authentic values in migrants and considers them a great human resource.
“102. God thus entrusts the Church, itself a pilgrim on earth, with the task of forging a new creation in Christ Jesus, recapitulating in Him (cf. Eph 1:9-10) all the rich treasures of human diversity that sin has transformed into division and conflict. To the extent that the mysterious presence of this new creation is genuinely witnessed to in its life, the Church is a sign of hope for a world that ardently desires justice, freedom, truth and solidarity, that is peace and harmony. And notwithstanding the repeated failures of human projects, noble as they may have been, Christians, roused by the phenomenon of mobility, become aware of their call to be always and repeatedly a sign of fraternity and communion in the world, by respecting differences and practising solidarity, in their ethics of meeting others.
“103. Migrants, too, can be the hidden providential builders of such a universal fraternity together with many other brothers and sisters. They offer the Church the opportunity to realize more concretely its identity as communion and its missionary vocation, as asserted by the Vicar of Christ: “Migrations offer individual local Churches the opportunity to verify their catholicity, which consists not only in welcoming different ethnic groups, but above all in creating communion with them and among them. Ethnic and cultural pluralism in the Church is not just something to be tolerated because it is transitory, it is a structural dimension. The unity of the Church is not given by a common origin and language but by the Spirit of Pentecost which, bringing together men and women of different languages and nations in one people, confers on them all faith in the same Lord and the calling to the same hope”.
“104. May the Virgin Mother, who together with her Blessed Son knew the pain of emigration and exile, help us to understand the experience, and very often the drama, of those who are compelled to live far from their homeland, and teach us to serve them in their necessities, truly accepting them as brothers and sisters, so that today’s migrations may be considered a call, albeit a mysterious one, to the Kingdom of God, which is already present in His Church, its beginning (cf. LG 9), and an instrument of Providence to further the unity of the human family and peace.”
TESTIMONY
“Here in the outback of Australia, in the opal town of Coober Pedy, the Catholic Community of Ss Peter and Paul was established in 1967. The remoteness of the place from law and bureaucrats, politicians and police, was an attraction for people who were looking for adventure and freedom. With the harsh beauty of the surrounds and the lure of quick riches many ventured to the opal fields of Coober Pedy.
“The Parish has been and continues to be the face of many nations. From her earliest days, with peoples fleeing post war Europe in the 50s and the oppression of totalitarian states in the Eastern Europe, Coober Pedy attracted a fair share of people migrating to Australia.
“The families coming from hardship were open to the challenges of life in Australia. In the outback, the challenges were somewhat magnified. With a strong streak of independence and resilience, the people made it work and continue to do so. They have shared a common experience, which has galvanised them into a community. Their strength is that they have a great sense of the wider “We.” Without the wide range of opportunities of city life, e.g., education, sport, work, shopping, and the basic needs such as water, electricity, and other services, the people have been very hands-on to make sure they, their families, and their neighbours do not miss out. There is a healthy pride in who they are, where they have come from, and where they are going.
“Our local parish has been enriched over the years with “the diversity of foreigners, migrants, and refugees, and in the intercultural dialogue that can emerge from this encounter.” The people of the nations have also embraced the outback Australian way of life, culture, and language. It has made Coober Pedy a place full of characters, stories, and legends—some of them true!
– Fr Paul Crotty, Diocese of Port Pirie (From ‘Towards an Ever Wider ‘We’’, Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office, 2021)
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
We pray for all who come to our land to better their lives and to escape oppression, poverty, persecution, violence, and war, that they will gain the peace and security they long for.
Lord, hear us.
We pray for migrants, refugees, and other strangers in our midst, that they may find strength in our concern for justice and feel the warmth of our love.
Lord, hear us.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Erga migrantes caritas Christi (The love of Christ towards migrants), Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
World Day of Migrants and Refugees Resources, Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office. Church Documents on Migration, Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office.
The Migration Data Portal, Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Creative Commons Licence
The text of this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – Share Alike 3.0 Australia Licence. Please attribute this publication to the Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry, November 2024.
This resource may be reproduced or photocopied in its entirety or in part. No copyright fee is payable.