Meeting on migrants gathers bishops and experts from across the Americas
By Kielce Gussie
From 18-22 August, Costa Rica is hosting the 12th Regional Meeting of Bishops and Pastoral Workers of Human Mobility from North, Central America, and the Caribbean. At the Juan XXIII Social School in Dulce Nombre de la Unión, representatives from the Bishops Conferences have come together with experts and delegates from ecclesiastical institutions for the gathering.
As Fides — the Vatican’s new agency — reports, Cardinal Fabio Baggio, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini, President of the Latin American and Caribbean Ecclesial Network CLAMOR of the Council of Latin American Bishops' Conferences (CELAM), are also scheduled to attend.
Guaranteeing human dignity
Auxiliary Bishop of San José and President of the Socio-Pastoral Observatory for Human Mobility in Central America and the Caribbean (OSMECA), Daniel Blanco, highlighted that “there are brothers and sisters who leave their country and their families in search of a better future. Migration is a reality that we as Christians cannot ignore.”
As a result, he stressed that this topic is very important for the Church and that the community prays for those who are forced to leave their homes, accompanies them, and promotes “coordinated actions on their behalf” to ensure that their dignity as children of God is respected.
Across the Americas
This meeting spans the Americas as nations like Canada, the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Panama have been invited to share their experiences.
Fr. Gustavo Meneses, Director of the Observatory and Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Human Mobility in Costa Rica, explained the current complex migration situation in the region creates serious pastoral challenges for the Church. He stressed that OSMECA “has become a point of reference for developing awareness-raising processes and regional interventions on migration issues.”
The focus of this 12th regional meeting is a pastoral letter that the Episcopal Secretariat of Central America (SEDAC) published last fall, entitled “He saw him, he approached him, and he cared for him.”
“We will shall share experiences, hear testimonies, and in light of the Word of God and the Church’s social doctrine, jointly propose ways to address the new migratory context in the region,” Bishop Blanco emphasized.
He invited the church community to come together in prayer, asking that the decisions and actions “convey the love of God and make us more sensitive to the suffering of our brothers and sisters.”
Five years of work
Established five years ago, the Observatory for Human Mobility in Central America and the Caribbean (OSMECA) began working to bring pastoral care professionals working in the area of human mobility from the Bishops’ Conferences of Mexico, Central America, and the Dominican Republic together with migration researchers.
The mission of the Observatory is to develop stronger initiatives from the local churches towards migration flows in the region. It is also dedicated to sharing the information, work, and solutions to help more people.
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