Pope Francis’ four verbs to respond to migrants

Mar 09, 2018

By Josephine Tey - ECMI Vice Chair
Naoko Maruyama, the Regional Coordinator of East and Southeast Asia for the Migrants and Refugees based in Manila, briefed the participants on her role as the liaison between Bishops’ Conferences for Migrants and Itinerants, relevant migrants and refugees’ offices as well as Catholic organisations such as Caritas and ICMC from each country in the region.

Fr Fabio Baggio, Undersecretary of Migrants and Refugees Section – Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development shared a link which we can use as resources in the ministry https://migrants-refugees.va/. Important documents such as the 20 Action Points for the Global Compacts and 20 Pastoral Action Points can be also found in the link.

The 20 action points show the Church’s extensive engagement towards the final drafting of the Global Compact at the UN General Assembly. The document highlights the principles expressed in Pope Francis’ FOUR verbs response:

-- To Welcome – offering broader options for migrants and refugees to enter safely and legally into destination countries
-- To Protect – defending the rights and dignity of migrants and refugees regardless of their status
-- To Promote – ensuring that all migrants and refugees are empowered to achieve their potential as human beings holistically
-- To Integrate – integrating opportunities for participation of migrants and refugees to enrich local communities


The day ended with a report by Ignacio Alonso and Christine Nathan on The Future of Work in the Context of Laudato Si.

The sessions included discussions on the draft strategic framework and proposed changes in ICMC Statutes in preparation towards the ICMC Council meeting to be held in Rome, 6-8 March 2018. Furthermore, a deliberation on the formulation of a work plan for ICMC Asia/Pacific Regions, was carried out to be revised and confirmed eventually.

At the end of the three days, Bishop Ruperto and Msgr Vitillo thanked Bishop Bernard Paul and his team for their warm and excellent hospitality in making the event possible. All the participants expressed gratitude for the welcome and appreciated the facilities provided at the Majodi Centre. --CBC-MSB