Today the Church will observe the 97th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, a commemoration instituted by St. Pius X. Pope Benedict’s brief message for the day is entitled “One Human Family.”
In 1914 the a Catholic Church Decree dealt for the first time with the question of clergy involved in the care of migrants. It stressed the responsibility of the local Church to assist immigrants and suggested that the local clergy be given specific preparation for this, linguistically, culturally and pastorally.
The Church will remind its followers to seek and honor a more multiethnic and intercultural world and that migrants and refugees be granted an equal place in society.
