Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “As effective and active members of the Church, Christians live also in the “world of tourism” with the obvious awareness of their faith, according to each one’s competences and different living conditions. Therefore, the laity must also make present the identity and nature of the missionary Church. Sent into a secularized, many times indifferent world, the Church asks her sons and daughters for an increasingly authentic commitment in the public area in the case of tourism.” “The deeper, more mature is faith the more incisive and urgent the mission becomes. This faith also dictates the rules of behavior in the tourist situation.” These were the first Recommendations contained in the Final Document of the European Meeting on the Pastoral Care of Tourism Today, 40 Years After the Directory “Peregrinans in terra,” which took place in Rome, April 29-30, sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. The Meeting was attended by Promoter Bishops and National Directors of Pastoral Care of Tourism in Europe from 20 different European nations, in addition to several experts and representatives from other continents.
The wide-ranging document was divided into three chapters: Event, Conclusions, and Recommendations. In the first part, it tells of the encounter, with a synthesis of the speeches given. The Conclusions approved at the end of the sessions shows “careful observation of contemporary tourism opens up an interesting horizon on the anthropological and cultural change in progress in Europe.” “Tourism today presents multiple and differentiated, brief and sophisticated forms of mobility which, in the end, prove to be very difficult to understand in a unitary way.” “The Church is also called upon by tourism as a social and cultural phenomenon that can bring about new lifestyles and respond to the human person’s new expectations. More specifically, however, the call that is made to the Church has to do with a threefold essential task: to 'evangelize every creature,' 'bring together God’s people who are dispersed' in the name of Jesus Christ, and offer areas and 'meanings' of good, worthy life to tourists.” “In this sense, the pastoral care of tourism can only be a “missionary pastoral care”, the typological and necessary expression of a Church ad extra. Its characteristics will be taken from the environment where she works according to its times and experiences and will express ways of commitment consistent with a Church that is living, trusting, enterprising and creative but always faithful.” “Pastoral 'attention' to all the subjects involved in tourism - that is, those who enjoy it, suffer its consequences, and work in it - reveals the universal fatherhood of God who wants to reach all men, wherever they are, in his design of love. This does not mean excluding but including, not selecting but integrating, not marginalizing but being in the middle of the movement brought about by the tourism phenomenon.”
In the Recommendations, it mentions that “At the summit of all pastoral action, and hence also in tourism, there is the Eucharistic celebration, especially on the Lord’s Day. It takes on such a central value that it reveals the local Church. Celebrations should also not be neglected of the 'sacraments' and devotional or religious anniversaries according to the local customs because these are of considerable importance for the participation of the faithful, their spiritual edification, and their approach to the 'divine mysteries.'” “The Dioceses should thus offer aid materials (for Sundays) perhaps by using some images from the local artistic patrimony, proposing itineraries to 'places of the spirit,' and developing the production of 'songs and music' of a liturgical or meditational character.” “It is possible 'to proclaim the Gospel' as a new meaning for travel to be discovered in beauty and immensity. It is necessary for each community, especially those more involved in this area, to have this task at heart and to consider it a priority. This implies a network of co-responsibilities to be created and included in the pastoral plans.” “Tourism is a human phenomenon and as such it is a multifaceted, transversal reality with ambivalent elements. In her pastoral concern, however, the Church is called to emphasize in a particular way the positive values that tourism brings along with it 'naturally,' rather than promoting depressing diagnoses.” “Regarding the reduction of poverty in the world, at least two areas of attention are recommended thanks also to tourism. On the one hand, increasing financial investments, raising the standards of service, and promoting apprenticeships and formation (e.g., through student tourism). On the other, safeguarding non-renewable resources (oil, water, and energy) is recommended as well as being careful to not take away land from agriculture or work in general through tourism.” “Unfortunately, tourism has still not entered into the pastoral plans of many dioceses and Bishops’ Conferences. It is recommended that this should be done. The pastoral care of tourism, in fact, should be considered an integral, essential and integrated part (overall pastoral plan) of ecclesial pastoral care.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 2/6/2009)
