EUROPE/ITALY - Archbishop Marchetto: “Where the stranger becomes a guest and is welcomed, the possibility of seeing others as enemies disappears.”

Recoaro Terme (Agenzia Fides) - “The causes that often force migrants to leave their own countries, in search of better opportunities elsewhere, are poverty, the impossibility of finding an adequate and dignified employment, more or less stable, in their native land; or fleeing the natural disasters, conflicts, wars, and persecutions of a political or religious character, or violations of human rights.” This is what Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, in an address on September 12 on “Immigrants: Economic, Social, and Religious Aspects” at the Rezzara Conference in Recoaro Terme.
Archbishop Marchetto recalled that international migration “should be considered in the development of international plans for development and the related national strategies. In fact, the remittance of migrant workers has offered a great contribution to the economy in general, especially in developing countries, where many of them come from.” Thus, we see the need for “the countries of destiny make an 'ethical recruitment' and cooperate in the formation of professionals who are needed in the home countries of the immigrants.” It is also important “that the leaders of the nations of origin strengthen their relations with their own citizens living in foreign nations,” as they contribute to the progress of their home nation “not only with their remittances, but also with the importance of their knowledge and familiarity with new technologies, etc. in their homeland, if they should return there.”
Exhorting the audience not to consider the migration phenomenon only in negative terms, although those exist, Archbishop Marchetto recalled that “illegal immigration has always existed, but it is often tolerated because it allows for a workforce reserve that helped legal migrants improve their position and insert themselves in a stable manner into the working world. Today, the phenomenon has, however, become a social emergency because with the increase in their number, there is a possibility of employees that greatly surpasses the needs of the economy, which in many cases cannot even offer employment to its local citizens. Thus, the suspicion comes that the foreigner takes away jobs from locals, when oftentimes the locals are those who do not want to work in certain kinds of employment that they consider 'dirty' or 'humiliating'.” This phenomenon, therefore, should be met, “on the one hand, with opposition to those who take advantage of illegal immigrants and, on the other, with international cooperation, geared at promoting political stability and removing the endemic causes of underdevelopment.”
The condition for illegality, therefore, Archbishop Marchetto explained, does not take away the dignity of the migrant, although he is illegal: his inalienable rights “cannot be violated nor ignored,” from the most basic rights to civil and political rights, and workplace rights. The immigrant “should respect the identity and laws of the nation they go to, working towards a just integration (not assimilation) in that sense and learning the language. There should also be esteem and respect for the hosting nation, reaching the point of loving and defending it.”
The Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People also reflected on two words often used nowadays, although not always with the right meaning: dialogue and tolerance. Dialogue is not simply “a mere conversation,” but it is above all, “debate, interaction, listening and entering into the vision of the other, ready to accept him without simplifications and superficiality and without losing one's own identity. Thus, dialogue does not become something intellectual, but something that involves real life and that is expressed perhaps through a simple sign of respect, a greeting, solidarity, fraternity.” “Along with dialogue, tolerance is another word that has lost a bit of its meaning, but is still of great importance. For example, today there is an image of Islam as 'intolerant monolith,' a religion of conquest, while the majority of Muslims are and proclaim themselves tolerant. These are the kinds of things that run the risk of compromising the efforts for dialogue and provoke a reaction that could be explosive. On the one hand, room is left for racism and, on the other, it leads others to turn in on themselves. Both religions – Christianity and Islam – have a tradition of hospitality and welcome at the basis of their traditions, 'mutatis mutandis.'”
“Where the stranger becomes a guest and is welcomed, the possibility of seeing others as enemies disappears,” the Archbishop continued, highlighting how “taking in the stranger, for the Christian, means taking in God Himself.” Archbishop Marchetto also mentioned that “in the Islamic world there is a tradition of hospitality manifest in the Koran. The tradition of openness is at the base of the Islamic religion, which today has its extremist and violent fringes...”
Lastly, the memory of September 11, which “showed the great contradictions in the role of religions in building peace” is “the need to make a qualitative leap in the interreligious encounter: we are all invited to listen and get down on our knees for the other.” At the close of his address, Archbishop Marchetto observed: “the search for a satisfying balance between a common code of coexistence and the existence of a wide variety of cultures poses delicate problems that are not easy to resolve...Perhaps, these fears take us on the road to annihilation or negation of the other's identity, wanting to assimilate them into the dominant culture. As well, fear can lead to the adoption of merely assistential practices that humiliate those who benefit from them, as they wound their self-esteem. The task to be resolved is that of bringing into public debate the proposal of a way to ward off Scylla and Charybdis, that is, the cultural imperialism that leads to an assimilation of cultures that differ from the dominant one, and cultural relativism, that leads to a balkanization of society.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 15/9/2009)