{"id":22140,"date":"2017-09-22T17:41:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T17:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/rise-in-immigration-makes-us-missionaries-at-home-pope-francis-says-11532\/"},"modified":"2017-09-22T17:41:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T17:41:00","slug":"rise-in-immigration-makes-us-missionaries-at-home-pope-francis-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/rise-in-immigration-makes-us-missionaries-at-home-pope-francis-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Rise in immigration makes us missionaries at home, Pope Francis says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Vatican City, Sep 22, 2017 \/ 11:41 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- On Friday, Pope Francis said that the mass arrival of migrants and refugees may have its challenges, but also gives us the opportunity to be missionaries \u2013 even without leaving home.<\/p>\n

\u201cContemporary migratory flows constitute a new missionary \u2018frontier,\u2019 a privileged opportunity to announce Jesus Christ and his Gospel without moving from our own environment,\u201d the Pope said Sept. 22.<\/p>\n

In personal encounters with refugees and migrants, especially those from different faiths, we can \u201cconcretely bear witness to the Christian faith,\u201d finding a \u201cfertile ground for the development of a genuine and enriching ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis spoke about immigration in an audience with national directors of pastoral care for migrants. They were participating in a meeting organized by the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) in Rome Sept. 21-23.<\/p>\n

The Pope also said that the arrival of Christian, and particularly Catholic, migrants is an opportunity for the Church in Europe to more fully realize its catholicity, its universality, which is part of the Creed we confess every Sunday at Mass.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent years, many particular Churches in Europe have been enriched by the presence of Catholic migrants who have brought their devotions and their liturgical and apostolic enthusiasm,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Faced with the massive and complex migration flows of the last several years, and the crisis it has presented for current migration policies, the Church intends simply to remain faithful to her mission: \u201cto love Jesus Christ, to adore and love him, particularly in the poorest and most abandoned,\u201d the Pope said.<\/p>\n

The Church\u2019s love towards her brothers and sisters from other countries is a maternal love which \u201cdemands to be manifested concretely at all stages of the migratory experience, from departure to journey, from arrival to return\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

And the hope is that each local Church can contribute to this in its own way according to its own abilities. \u201cRecognizing and serving the Lord in these members of his \u2018journeying people\u2019 is a responsibility that unites all particular Churches in the profusion of a constant, coordinated and effective effort,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

In his experience listening to the local Churches in Europe, the Pope said that he senses a \u201cprofound discomfort\u201d about the arrival of so many migrants and refugees.<\/p>\n

He said he believes this discomfort must be acknowledged, and that it can be understood in light of recent economic crises faced by some countries. It may also be \u201cexacerbated\u201d by the scope of migratory flows, the unpreparedness of host countries, and inadequate national and community policies, he said.<\/p>\n

But it also points us to the difficulty still faced in a concrete application of the universality of human rights; for Christians, the logic that the human person should be at the center of all our decisions, as a unique and unrepeatable creation by God.<\/p>\n

Francis continued, saying that he would not hide the concern he feels at signs of intolerance, discrimination and xenophobia found in different regions of Europe, which he believes to be motivated by fear and distrust of \u201cthe other, the stranger.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he is also worried when Catholic communities turn migrants away under the justification of preserving the original culture and religious identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Church has spread to all continents through the \u2018migration\u2019 of missionaries who were convinced of the universality of the message of salvation of Jesus Christ, intended for men and women of all cultures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the history of the Church there has been no lack of temptations of exclusivity and the raising of cultural barriers, but the Holy Spirit has always helped us to overcome them, guaranteeing a constant openness to the other, considered as a concrete possibility of growth and enrichment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Vatican City, Sep 22, 2017 \/ 11:41 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- On Friday, Pope Francis said that the mass arrival of migrants and refugees may have its challenges, but also gives us the opportunity to be missionaries – even without leaving home.<\/p>\n

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