Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - "It is necessary to offer an adequate and qualified preparation to our missionaries sent to work in migratory contexts, whose challenges and needs are diversified": says Sister Neusa de Fatima Mariano, general superior of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo (Scalabrinians), a congregation that has been dealing with the assistance of migrants since its foundation, emphasizing the importance of the formation of religious women who find themselves operating in different contexts of crisis in the world.
The occasion was offered by the recent presentation of the "Training Manual on Migration" carried out by IOM, International Organization for Migration, together with the Congregation of the Scalabrinian Sisters. The text offers a series of important cues for those who work in the territories, starting from migratory contexts, to psychosocial approaches, practical interaction techniques with those who need help.
"In our missionary attention we value proximity, being together, being a migrant with migrants and refugees, and in particular with women and children in search of protection due to situations of risk, violations and vulnerability, especially in border areas", added Sister Neusa according to the note sent to Agenzia Fides. The manual is an "important tool for the formation of the Scalabrinian Missionaries, for the development of the Scalabrinian mission in the Church and, in a particular way, for those who are preparing to be sent for an itinerant missionary service".
The itinerant service of the Congregation allows the religious to be able to move in relation to the migration emergencies that touch the different borders of the world. In addition to Central America, the itinerant service is also present in southern Italy and northern Brazil. Established with the recent reorganization of the congregation, this service aims to be a sort of "first aid assistance" that moves in relation to the different migratory emergencies that occur in the world. The goal is to participate in the management of migratory emergencies where caravans (see Fides, 8/3/2019; 22/6/2019) develop, with solidarity, prayer and accompaniment. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 5/9/2019)
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