The Church has celebrated the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) since 1914. It is an occasion to express our concern for the different categories of vulnerable people on the move; to pray for them as they face many challenges; and to raise awareness of the opportunities that migration offers.
The JMMR is commemorated every year on the last Sunday of September; in 2022, on 25 September. The theme chosen by the Holy Father this year is Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees.
In his missive for this 108th Day, Pope Francis calls us to build a future more in line with God’s plan, a world where we can live in dignity and peace, and shares a clear message:
“Dear brothers and sisters, and especially you young people, if we want to cooperate with our heavenly Father in building the future, let us do so together with our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters. Let us build it today! Because the future starts today, and it starts with each one of us. We cannot leave to future generations the responsibility for decisions that need to be taken now, so that God’s plan for the world can be realised and his Kingdom of justice, fraternity and peace can come”.
Migrants and Refugees Section (M&R) proposes an itinerary whose starting point is the Holy Father’s Message, which emphasises the fact that a better future is possible only if it is built together with the most vulnerable.
No one should be excluded because God’s plan is inclusive. And so we take it up in our call number 3: “Responding to the cry of migrants and refugees”.
The drama of human mobility must set us out to respond to the urgent cry that comes to us from migrants and refugees. It challenges us to continue to collaborate with others and to take bolder and more defined positions that guarantee the protection of human dignity, accompaniment and ways of integration into society.
We are all called to commit ourselves to building a future based on a new global system, more in line with God’s plan, a world where all can live in peace and prosperity.
“The future will be one of hope if it is together” (Pope Francisco).
