May 28, 2010. Pope Benedict XVI met with the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, just two days into the council’s plenary meeting.
Benedict XVI “Thank you for your efforts to build a system of shared norms which provide for the rights and duties of foreigners and those of the host communities.”
The council brings Cardinals, bishops and experts in migration policy from around the world to Rome every two years.
Msgr. Agostino Marchetto
Secretary, Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and itinerant People
“This years theme is co-responsibility that the pontifical council, states and non-governmental organizations share.”
Monsignor Marchetto says human mobility is a sign of the times and now requires a multilateral approach which favors states and supports international organizations to combat racism and discrimination while developing programs to protect the dignity of the human person.
A message echoed by Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate and again during his meeting with members of the plenary session.
Benedict XVI
“Human mobility has long been the subject of international conventions designed to protect fundamental human rights and combat discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.”
During the three day meeting, participants also tackled others issues that range from the trafficking of women and children to poverty and a push for better communication between civil authorities and religious institutions.
The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People was created by the late Pope John Paul II in 1988.
MC
CTV/ JM
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