Faith on the Move

 

 

FAITH ON THE MOVE

Towards a Theology of Migration in Asia

 

Symposium

Held at the Maryhill School of Theology, Quezon City (Philippines) on 14-15 July 2006, the Symposium Faith on the Move was a joint initiative of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (CBCP-ECMI), the Maryhill School of Theology and the Scalabrini Migration Center. Over 250 participants from different countries of Asia underlined the importance of understanding migration as a sign of the times and a theological "place." The event was made possible thanks to the financial support of MISSIO-Aachen.

 

First Session: The Challenges

Fr. Philip Muncada, SVD and Fr. Louis Aldrich, SJ presented two case-studies concerning respectively Filipino migrants in Japan and Asian migrants in Taiwan, respectively. Both presenters stressed the challenges posed by modern migration to the sending and receiving communities, at the society and Church levels. Questions about the inclusion and integration processes in Japan and Taiwan were raised, taking into consideration the multicultural and multireligious environment in Asia. It was highlighted that the defense and promotion of human rights and regional solidarity is still an ideal. Two main challenges posed to the Church in Asia were identified: a) What should be the reaction of the Church before an unjust system, which victimizes migrants? b) What should be the pastoral action of the Church before the threat of family disintegration because of migration?

Second Session: The Frameworks

The second session dealt with two frameworks, which a theological reflection on migration can be placed into. Dr. Agnes Brazal presented the human rights’ framework, paying particular attention to "cultural rights." An interesting philosophical and psychological approach to the right of identity introduced the theological reflection on cultural rights, which offered the Trinitarian model as paradigm. The real “ousia" of the Holy Trinity is “relationality," meaning “equality in diversity." Human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, have to “negotiate" their identity, which is “becoming" as the result of relationships with others. Fr. Giovanni Zevola, OMI presented the biblical framework, looking into the experience of migration of the People of Israel as it is reported in the Bible. There is a clear development in the understanding of “foreigner," which starts from hostility and ends in hospitality. As long as the People of Israel considered the foreigner as a threat to their identity, hostility was the main attitude. But as soon as they realized that their identity was actually “revealed" in the encounter with the "other," hostility changed into hospitality. Fr. Zevola concluded with the invitation of the prophet Isaiah to “enlarge the space of our tent," bridging the distance while respecting the difference.

Third Session: Places and Belonging

Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle opened the third session, which dealt with places and belonging. Bishop Tagle highlighted that the mission of Jesus Christ often led him to leave home, cross frontiers and find home, just like any migrant. Jesus was essentially “homeless," and even finding new homes, he was always a “guest," never the “owner," not even of his tomb. The mission led Jesus to cross boundaries, reaching out to the outcast, the unclean. Mission is actually the real “place of belonging" of Jesus Christ, homeless with the homeless, eternal migrant. Dr. Emmanuel de Guzman presented three traditional images of the Church in migration: shepherd and flock, mother and children and family and members. In the pursuit of the Church with and of the migrants, Dr. de Guzman introduced a new image: the city life, where differences are “relational" and not “essential." City life is a “space" constituted by four main elements: social differentiation, variety, eroticism and publicity. Beyond the concept of homogeneous “membership," differences become the real richness of the Church in migration, and migration becomes the “space" where to celebrate diversity.

Fourth Session: The Reminders

The fourth session opened with the presentation of Fr. William Larousse, MM, who considered migration from a missiological perspective. Migration is where the Church is asked to prove its participation in the Trinitarian mission of calling into one family all humanity in and through this diversity. Migrants remind the Church of her real nature as a pilgrim Church, whose true citizenship is only in heaven. Professor Anselm Min, from Claremont Graduate University (California), offered an exciting eschatological approach to migration. Professor Min underlined that migrants’ struggles and hopes constantly remind the Church of her commitment to achieve the eschatological ideal of reconciled humanity in a new heaven and a new earth. The eschatological hope empowers human beings to live faithfully in this world but also with a necessary tension between this world and the world to come.

Fifth Session: The Encounters

Bro. Anthony Rogers, FSC opened the last session, highlighting how faith encounters in Asia may help in globalizing solidarity. While pursuing homogeneity, globalization is also stressing the differences and enhancing the gaps. The globalized world often dehumanizes relationships and encounters and the Church’s mission today is to move from fragmentation to unity, from cruelty to caring, from grabbing to sharing. In this sense, the active participation and involvement in the world of migrants and refugees is indeed a constitutive dimension of the evangelizing mission of the Church in the post-modern world. The contribution of Fr. James Kroeger, MM, focused on the religious dimensions of migration from the perspective of interreligious dialogue. Catholic migrants in Asia face a multireligious environment and they need guidelines to manage such delicate encounter. A dialogue “Decalogue" for migrants was then proposed with the aim to transform Catholic migrants into “interfaith dialoguers." Fr. Kroeger particularly underlined the importance of the “dialogue of life," constituted of simple and ordinary actions, what could be called a good “neighborology."

Selected Contributions from Students

"OUT OF PLACE": EXILIC EXISTENCE IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD - by Victorino Cueto

Out of Place, the title of Edward Said’s memoir, reflects and captures the life-story of migrants, the (post)modern-day exiles so prevalent in our hyper-globalized world. Wanderers and strangers, they live in-between worlds, sometimes even as “mediators" of two or more worlds. Perennially longing for home, homecoming is almost always a possibility, yet never a surety. Neither denizens of their host country nor inhabitants of the land of their birth, they continuously navigate the spaces of their past and present, unsure of where and what will their future be. They reside in the indefinite; and shuttle back and forth between promise and certainty. This paper is a meditation on the life-struggles of our migrant brothers and sisters, the “first victims" and the “most lucid witnesses" of our era, to use Michel de Certeau’s words. It also presents a cursory overview of the various theorizing explored to explain this phenomenon. In addition, it attempts to explain what hybrid existence in this hypermodern times entails in view of a proposal for a “world-wide solidarity" via the resources of Christian tradition that on the one hand factors in this new social geography and on the other hand, transcends the limits of assimilation, the traditional response to it.

FILIPINO MIGRATION: A MISSIONARY CHALLENGE - by Sr. Eva Ocenar, MSCS

Firstly, the author proposes a brief analysis of the growing phenomenon of Filipino migration, highlighting its impact on individuals, families and societies. In particular, it is noted that the negative effects of migration pose serious pastoral challenges to the Church in the Philippines. Secondly, the study presents a brief excursus of the pastoral responses given by the local Church in the Philippines to migrants’ needs. Both the reflection (magisterium) and the action of the Filipino Church on migrants’ issues are considered. Particular attention is paid to more recent developments, after the establishment of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI), under the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Thirdly, the author introduces the results of a comparative analysis between the challenges posed by modern migration and the responses of the local Church, highlighting the gaps. Fourthly, the study offers a missiological reflection on the pastoral care of Filipino migrants as an innovative, but feasible way to help the Filipino Church to fill the gaps. Such reflection is based on the assumption that the mission is a non-ending process of missionary tasks of the Blessed Trinity in this world. Adopting the Trinitarian model, the study proposes a missiological reflection that enables the local Church to re-discover and re-define her approach to the migrant ministry. Likewise, the author expounds on missiological insights, taken particularly from some selected paths of mission, in order to offer some important ways of pastorally exercising mission. Lastly, some practical recommendations are articulated as simple guidelines to pursue a more dynamic response to the challenges posed by the Filipino modern migration to the local Church.

 

Abstracts