Celebrating Migrant Sunday, Sept 24, 2017: Child Migrants, Vulnerable and Voiceless

Local Migrant Sunday message focuses on migrant children’s vulnerability and voicelessness

Sep 23, 2017

In this year’s message, Pope Francis builds on this theme of welcome for migrants and refugees and focuses on Child Migrants, the Vulnerable and the Voiceless. Pope Francis says, “I feel compelled to draw attention to the reality of child migrants, especially the ones who are alone. In doing so, I ask everyone to take care of the young who, in a threefold way, are defenceless: they are children, they are foreigners and they have no means to protect themselves. I ask everyone to help those who, for various reasons, are forced to live far from their homeland and are separated from their families.”

Francis goes on to say, “And yet, among migrants, children constitute the most vulnerable group because, as they face the life ahead of them, they are invisible and voiceless: their precarious situation deprives them of documentation, hiding them from the world’s eyes; the absence of adults to accompany them prevents their voices from being raised and heard. In this way, migrant children easily end up at the lowest levels of human degradation, where illegality and violence destroy the future of too many innocents, while the network of child abuse is difficult to break up.”

Pope Francis challenges us all “to work towards protection, integration and long-term solutions.”

ECMI President’s Message


Greetings in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

The Archdioceses and dioceses of the Conference of Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei have adopted this theme “Child Migrants, Vulnerable and Voiceless” for this year’s Migrant Sunday Celebration.

“The migrant children are the most vulnerable and fragile victims of war and persecutions. They arrive alone in their countries of destination; they are unable to make their voices heard; they easily become victims of violations of human rights. They are invisible because they are undocumented or unaccompanied.” – The Pontifical Council for Migrants & Travelers

According to UNICEF report, 31 million children live outside of their countries of birth. And 11 million of them are forcibly displaced. What happens to them? Their rights to live, learn and flourish are compromised. They suffer torture, physical violence, moral and psychological aggression. They are easy targets for smugglers, traffickers and sexual abuse; or recruited into militias or criminal groups; or become victims of organ trafficking, child labour and early marriage.

Maria, a refugee girl who escaped violence in Kenya, now schooling in Italy, made this call, “All children deserve the right to be children.”

Pope Francis reminded, “Every person is precious; persons are more important than things, and the worth of an institution is measured by the way it treats the life and dignity of human beings especially the vulnerable.”

Do we hear their cries? Is this phenomenon a sign of the times? Is the God of History still speaking in signs? Is this the time, the appropriate time for us to work with our compassionate God in history and in human community? It is a call to universal communion.

On 21 Feb  2017, Pope Francis introduced four verbs for ‘faith-in-action’ initiatives among migrants, that is, Welcome! Protect! Promote! Integrate!

May we, with courage and sacrifice, step out to WELCOME, PROTECT, PROMOTE and INTEGRATE the strangers, the travellers and sojourners into our space and time.

Together building His Kingdom!

Rt. Rev. Bishop Bernard Paul,
President Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants (ECMI)
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei.

Some Proposed Activties

1. To display the Migrant Sunday posters at the Church foyer/notice board during the month of September.

2. Mass — Involving Parish Migrant Ministry, Migrant and Refugee Leaders, Liturgical committee, etc
-- To make available flyers/brochures of the Pope’s message, in four languages, to parishioners during all Masses,
-- Video Clip presentation to be projected after Communion

3. Fellowship Meal and Other Recreational Activities
-- Encourage fellowship meals, games, etc for both migrants and parishioners
-- Token of appreciation for migrants / refugees: Goody bags by BEC/Parishioners etc

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