My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

I had the privilege to participate in the Plenary Meeting of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People held in Rome. The Council is responsible for the Church’s work in the field of migration and refugee protection. I have served on the Council since 2000.

The theme of this plenary meeting was the “Pastoral Solicitude of the Church in the Context of Forced Migration.” The issue of forced migration today is very evident in our world. In Syria alone, over a million people have fled that civil war. Compounding that problem is that Syria was the safe haven for over one million Iraqi refugees, most of whom are Christians. Some of those have returned already to Iraq or have fled to other countries.

The situation in the Middle East is only the tip of the iceberg. There are also a great number of displaced persons in Africa as a result of civil conflicts there. When a person migrates in full freedom, whether in search of better economic conditions or better freedom, it is a planned decision. When people are forced to migrate, however, it is not quite as neat.

This year, the Pontifical Council celebrates its 25th anniversary in its present form. As far back as 1967, there was a Vatican Commission charged with the issue of migration for the Vatican, advising the Holy Father on this matter. After 25 years as a Pontifical Council, with a Cardinal as President, there is greater visibility for the Vatican Office and shows the Holy Father’s concern for migrants.

Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglió is the current President of the Council and has served in that capacity for the past three years. The members of the council include the newly elected His Beatitude Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, Lebanon, whose moving intervention regarding forced migration in the Middle East was one of the highlights of the conference. This three-day conference was a preparation for the release of the new Vatican document entitled, “Welcoming Christ in Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons.” This document, to be released publicly on June 6, was several years in preparation. The Church is living the Gospel when it reaches out to refugees and other forced migrants and displaced persons. The position of these migrants either in camps, urban settings or internally displaced, makes them vulnerable to all sorts of difficulties.

Most importantly, the document deals with those who were trafficked or smuggled. Trafficked are those people who unwillingly fall prey to those who bring them to other countries for the purpose of sexual exploitation or other forms of work related exportation. In contrast, there are those who willingly put themselves in the hands of smugglers to reach a determined destination. The distinction between these two groups, however, many times fades because they all wind up in precarious situations. The Church’s role is always to defend human dignity and to care for those persons who find themselves in these marginalized situations.

At the end of each plenary meeting of the council, normally the Holy Father receives the group in audience and delivers a message regarding the work that has been accomplished by the Plenary Meeting. Pope Francis met with the group and delivered his message with great passion. One line sticks in my mind when he said, “My friends, do not forget the flesh of Christ which is in the flesh of the refugees; their flesh is the flesh of Christ.” This is such a clear comparison of the migrant to Christ following the mandate of Matthew 25, when at the Last Judgment, Christ tells us we will be judged by how we have treated the most vulnerable, especially the strangers in our midst. The Holy Father was very pleasant and engaging. Also, should you wish to read his message, it is available at www.vatican.va.

The rest of my time was spent visiting the various Vatican Offices with which we were in contact over a variety of issues. Of particular interest, I met with Archbishop Hon Tai Fai, Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, in the Office of the Secretary of State, and presented the report I had prepared following my visit to China.

I also enjoyed meeting with our seminarians and priests studying in Rome. We have three seminarians at the North American College: Deacon Jun Hee Lee, who please God will be ordained to the Priesthood on June 29; Juan Luxama and Nicholas Colalella. We also have three priests studying at the Casa Santa Maria: Fathers John Cush, Joe Zwosta and Peter Purpura. They all seem to be doing well and are happy in their studies. Father John Costello, who finishes five years on the formation faculty of the North American College, will be returning this June to take up his position as Administrator of St. Kevin’s assisting the Pastor, Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto.

The Church must always put out into the deep troubled waters of this world where many are tossed to and fro by the difficulties of life today. I am grateful to all those in Catholic Charities and the other ministries of our Diocese who go about this great work of assisting those trafficked persons and refugees, as well as to our Catholic Migration Office for its assistance to immigrants and those who wish to come to our country or regularize their status. Our diocese is there, on the front lines, working for the least among us and our new neighbors.