2. THE CHURCH AND EMIGRATION

"Where people are working and suffering, there is the Church," which has the mission "to evangelize the children of poverty and labor."  The Church does not direct its missionary activity only to unbelievers but also to the Catholics who are exposed to the danger of becoming unbelievers because of emigration.

It is necessary to intervene concretely and immediately because "the religious and moral future of emigrating people depends on that modicum of religion and morality," that must be preserved at once as the most precious part of their cultural and religious patrimony.  What we need is "heroes who will go forth to evangelize" in conditions less dangerous but no less arduous than those of the missionaries to the unbelievers.

The preservation of, and appreciation for, the emigrants' spiritual heritage call for the preservation of ethnic culture: "religion and country complement each other in this work of love and redemption."

The pastoral care of migrants must take this principle into account.  Both the missionaries and the receiving Churches must respect the cultural identity and religious traditions peculiar to the emigrants.  So, under the leadership of the bishop, the missionary should be free to exercise his ministry, a ministry that will prudently guide the immigrants' integration into the local Church, will respect normal rhythms, and not prematurely force an assimilation that would destroy the immigrants' thousand-year-old heritage of religion and tradition.

Emigration is not a concern just for the sending or the receiving Churches.  In fact, as a universal phenomenon and problem, it is a concern for the universal Church.  Hence the need for coordination among the local Churches, a coordination that can only come from the center.  The problem of emigration is like that of the Church's missionary activity "to the infidels."  Just as the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith exists for this missionary activity, so also is there a need to set up an appropriate Congregation or at least a central commission in the Roman Curia for the emigrant Catholics of all countries.