The celebration of Migrant Day is on September 1, and in that framework the Pastoral of Migrants of the diocese of Rancagua has scheduled an activity that will take place on August 27 in the auditorium of the Bishopric. It is about presenting through different panelists a document that the Bishops of Chile published in May 2024, which is called “I Was a Stranger and They Received Me…”
“This document places us in a Christian perspective on the phenomenon of migration that affects us as a society today. This presentation of documents will take place in the Bishop’s Hall, with authorities from the region, to show the concerns we have as a Catholic Church regarding migration, but not as migration in the name of migration, but as families who see the need to move,” explains the Episcopal delegate for migration, Sister Claudia Lazcano.
He points out that in the diocesan Pastoral of Migrants “we do not want to speak only about migration as a document, but with faces, and for this we will have some people who will speak to us about the reality at a national level with an ecclesial perspective and we will also have some contributions on the reality of migration and foreigners in the region, as well as in education, because this topic covers different areas, that is, there is health, housing, education, work, all these areas are involved in this document.”
Sister, why is it important for society in general to know about this document?
It is important because it gives us back this humanized view. We have to recover that view that they are human beings, that they are people who have found themselves in distress, in a specific need; and, also, many of them feel that God has invited them to migrate and they look for a safe space in our parishes. A migrant is someone who gives me peace at Mass, for example, maybe there is a catechist or I have children in catechism. They are not different from us. They are in a complex situation because of what they have had to live in their country. It is Christ who says I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
Sister Claudia also indicated that on September 1st they will have a diocesan Eucharistic celebration, and that it has been requested that the presence of migrants also be celebrated in each parish.
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