Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogota (Agenzia Fides) – October 19-24, the headquarters of the Colombian Bishops’ Conference in Bogota will host the First Continental Latin American Encounter for apostleship of the road, promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, in conjunction with the Human Mobility Sector of the Latin American Bishops’ Council (CELAM). This event is the first of its kind and will include four different categories of apostleship of the road: “those who are on the road (car drivers, truck drivers, etc.), those working on the railroads, women and children on the street, and nomads.” The theme for the encounter is: “ ‘Jesus himself drew near and walked with them’ (Lk 24:15). Apostleship of the Road: a path together,” which is scheduled to attended by nearly 50 people from 13 countries, including Bishops, priests, religious, and members of apostolic groups and volunteer associations. The main objectives of the Encounter are: to offer pastoral agents the opportunity to share their experiences, methodologies, successes and hardships; to study the various worldwide and local level situations of people living on the street; find new ways of promoting the dignity of every human person; find new strategies for collaboration between state and civil institutions and volunteer organizations; spread awareness in the Church as to the presence of those who live on the street and encourage the local communities and parishes to welcome them in; widen the perspective of the Pontifical Council in understanding the apostleship of the road so as to better help those who work in this area.
According to information released by the Pontifical Council, as to the first category (those who are on the road), they explained that “as a result of the transgressions and negligence, each year 1.2 million people die and 50 million are injured on the motorways. There are an estimated 122,000 victims in Latin America, with between 30-50 injured for each death.”
The consequences of the injuries from accidents “worsen the poverty of many families and have a negative influence on the future of the nations,” especially when it affects the youth.
As for the women on the street, a number that “has dramatically increased in the world,” it is important “to recognize that sexual exploitation, prostitution, and trafficking of human persons are acts of violence and, as such, constitute an offense to the dignity of women and a grave violation of fundamental human rights.” In Latin America, this is a very widespread reality.
The third category, children on the street, is “undoubtedly one of the most difficult challenges of our time, for the Church, civil society, and politics.” According to the estimates from Amnesty International, there are nearly 100 million youth, and the International Work Organization estimates 150 million. 50 million of them “live or work on the streets of Latin American continent and the Caribbean,” and the phenomenon “is growing almost everywhere,” becoming “an authentic social and pastoral emergency.”
As for the nomadic people, they are “a complex reality, not a uniform one, formed by people of many different ages and situations.” There are an estimated over 1 billion “homeless” people, including those who are without an established residence, and about 50,000 people die each day (the majority being women and children) from the misery of their refuges, from contaminated water or from inadequate sanitary conditions. In Latin America and the Caribbean, their are nearly 127 million people who are homeless or live in shacks.
In response to this dramatic panorama, the Church “cannot but intervene,” and there are already “many specific Church initiatives and collaboration agreements with civil and state organizations.” This encounter in Bogota “is not only in order to study the Church’s response to the primary needs of these people, but to develop new strategies in promoting the dignity and values of every person and their evangelization.” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 16/10/2008)
