XIIth General Assembly of MIAMSI –
As
Daniel Guéry can testify, I have had much difficulty entering the theme of your
congress “ Migrations, an opportunity to build bridges” because in my mind,
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Migration concerns all these North Africans who
try to arrive in
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Migration concerns all these sub-Saharan that we
see passing across
1) Distinction
between migrations
I think that
distinctions must be made when we talk of migrations: migrations from the North
to the South are not similar to those from the South to the North, and still
less when they take place transversally South to South or North to North. They
all have different motivations.
Motivation is the factor
that will make of migration a chance and will allow the pillars of the bridge
to be built without fear of cracks because they will be embedded on solid rock
(politico-economical), and the road across the bridge will become a real
passage (possible to be crossed in full sight) or a passage way for all sorts
of traffics (discretion will then be imperative)… Here I recall in imagination
of the bridge linking
2)
Occidental residents overseas
But Daniel Guéry, by his
questions, has compelled me to reread my life, and I have become conscious that
I was a man of migration, and that for me this was a richness.
So I will
choose to use the abbreviation Moroccans use for those of them living overseas RME
(Resident Morocco Etranger) rather than migrant.
Most of my life I have been a ROE (Resident Occidental Etranger),
residing in European, Asiatic or African countries, without forgetting numerous
passages in
2-1) In relation to
family
In fact, I was born in
Morocco of French parents. Very young, I have learnt that depending on the
country of origin, although we do not live in the same way, we may understand
each others, we are able to welcome each others, and that the question was not
to enclose ourselves in cocoons. And I am always happy to tell that my “nanny”
was Abdallah, a Moroccan man, who helped my parents to bring me up.
At the same time, I must
thank my parents who have managed to give me strong family ties: Every year,
by epic trips (money was not pouring on us at home), we managed to return to
the large family house to meet the cousins who themselves arrived from all
around the Earth, it seems to have been a specificity of the family for several
generations! I think that it is due to these strong family roots that
2-2) In relation to
culture
It is true that, as a kid, I was not doing much questioning …
nevertheless, I was in admiration of my father who, in order to understand this
people with whom he was working, had learned the Arabic and Berber languages.
But through the different countries I have crossed and especially when I
inserted myself more deeply into
2 –3) In relation to
religion,
Even if there were not much spiritual links between Christians and
Muslims, I have been lulled by the prayer call of the “muezzin”; we lived
together, we worked together, we did many things together. I have been invited
to deepen my Christian faith so as to live by it, and not to enter into big
theological discussions. It was not yet called “inter-religious dialogue”, or
“dialogue of life” but it was it already. And at that time, Charles de
Foucauld told us a lot on the Moroccan roads. Vatican II had not yet taken
place, with the decrees on “religious Liberty” and the “non Christian
religions”. The way I had learnt to respect the other in his faith has prepared
me to welcome « Nostra Aetate ». And today, I consider myself
responsible of all this dynamic, not only in my church, but at the level of the
universal Church. And I must confess that if some actions rejoice me, others
make me jump … I have been so enriched by the contact with Islam.
3) Employment has led
many persons from all continents to cross boarders
Already, people were dialoguing; all those who have experienced coming
to work in these countries were not “horrible colonialists”. My father, although
a manager in the mining industry, has acquired his first car after 20 years of
marriage! The wealth he wanted to transmit to his children in priority was
education. And it is amazing to notice the large number of persons who have
been marked by these departures for foreign countries. Populations have had the
opportunity to learn to know each others, to meet, to understand that there are
other cultures, there are other religions, allowing many to live, that there
are other ways of exercising politics, that the word “laity” does not have the
same meaning in all situations…
We have been thousands,
and we are still thousands of occidentals residing in foreign countries; all,
in their own way try to build this bridge; but it is probably more difficult nowadays,
because they stay less longer in these countries; they stay a few years and
leave (for multiple reasons), so there is less time for this impregnation that
is such a richness to happen.
Starting from what I
have been given to live, I wanted to share my experience with you.
4)
The RAE (Résidents Africains à l’Étranger) coming from the south to
I cannot speak in the
place of others, but I think that the Africans who in the west have a good
situation, who have reached a certain social status, must be able to say
approximately the same thing; but I do not want to hazard on this path that I
don’t know enough. The only thing I want to say on this subject is my sadness,
when I talk with persons who have the financial means, persons who have high
responsibilities, in my substitute country, to note how proud they are to tell
me that one of their children is working in Paris, another in New York or in
Beijing. I suffer to realize that
their pride is not faith in their country.
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4-1) The
sub-Saharan students in
Approximately in the
same category than the RAE (Résidents Africains à l’Étranger), in
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4-1-1) They are black, so
considered as slaves (this is a heritage from antic Moroccan history)
… Moroccans having difficulty considering themselves as Africans.
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4-1-2) They are black, so
necessarily Muslims; this forces to reconsider the relation with Islam. These
students must relearn to live with this form of societal Islam that drains the
life of the whole society. They must learn what is “non- religious freedom”.
But their presence as Christians forces our Muslim brothers to become aware
that another road towards God may exist.
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4-1-3) They are black, so
necessarily from
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4-1-4) But the immense worth that these students
bring to the Catholic Church is to demonstrate that Catholicism is not a
colonising religion!
In
witnessing the life of these students, I become conscious of:
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4-1-5) The importance of the welcoming for those who arrive more and more younger.
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4-1-6) The importance of having a religious
community to sustain them (for Christians, Sunday is their puff of
oxygen), a Christian community which helps them to pray, and in the same time
to reflect about their lives in the light of the word of God.
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4-1-7) The importance of having a community of
the same religion who can help them in case of hardship.
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4-1-8) If I can allow myself, the importance to have Embassies who
know how to accompany them and who do not drop them, even on the financial
level.
These are the necessary
scaffoldings for the building of this bridge, to be patiently prepared until
the moment happens when cement will be added!
In spite
of numerous difficulties, they enrich themselves and, in doing so, enrich the
whole of
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4-1-9)
They discover another culture and another way of working.
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4-1-10)
They discover a new way to live their faith be it
Christian or Muslim.
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4-1-11)
They discover that it is with these new people that they will have
economical or political relations in the future … and this not only with the
Moroccans, but with all the other Africans, because they become terribly
conscious of the difference in culture between Africans from the west or the
centre or from the big lakes that we have the tendency to uniformise. (Each
summer, we organise a big “summer university” for 90 of them from 15 nationalities.
When we do the feeding back, what marks them most is the fact of having shared,
during 8 days, the life of persons who are not of their ethny.
It is true that, in these cases, migration is a chance to build
bridges … if the occidental magnets are not too powerful. In these cases, the
pillars of the bridge must be built on both sides of the
- 4-2) Migration properly speaking
from the South to the North
It is not to destroy all
I have just said, but since I am a bishop in
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Because, even if I want to keep my conviction
that migration is a human right,
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Because, even if I strongly believe in the
richness of the encounter of persons and peoples,
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Because, even if I am more and more convicted
that our religions must give sense to our lives, in our relation with God, in
our human relations,
My strongest conviction
is that man, above all, has the right to live in his own country, in honourable
conditions on the food, social, educative, sanitary, economical, political and
religious levels … It would even appear to me to be the first of his
fundamental rights. But, during all my numerous travels, I have witnessed how
much this right is scoffed at.
I have the impression
that for the present time, the bridge has been destroyed by a cyclone, at least
on the South/North road.
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4-2-1) In fact, when we mention
the North/South migration, a large majority of the individuals live it as a
positive experience, willingly accepted if not chosen.
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4-2-2) Having some knowledge
of the
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4-2-2-1) It is certainly not with a joyous heart that they have left their
country, having to pay the crossing of each boarder … women sometimes are
forced to pay in nature!
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4-2-2-2) It is not with a joyous heart that they have
attempted 10 times the crossing, but having failed,
they will try again!
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4-2-2-3) It is not with a joyous heart that they have been trapped in raids and
thrown in Algeria where at the boarder, they have been stripped of everything
by mafias!
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4-2-2-4) It is not with a joyous heart that they have left their families,
sometimes wives and children … with the hope to bring to them enough money to
live, to study ……
I think I can say that they leave
not only with their human strength, but with a touching spiritual strength … how often,
after mass, some of them come to me and ask: “ Pray for me, to- morrow, I am
trying again”! Or they ask me to bless medals or candles … How long do they
remain praying in front of the Virgin Mary … and when they are in emergency
camps in the forests, there is continuously strong moments of prayer … The spiritual
force holds them and helps them to go further along.
For many, from the whole
of
5)
On the road of migrations
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5-1) On their road, they will encounter everything, good and less good … they
will notice that some families are sympathetic to their misery … Some will try
to look after them … they will see that bread is shared with them … They will understand that political
difficulties may occur … But in spite of all this, they trod on … One point is closed, they will go around
it, even if the risks taken are stronger.
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5-2) And if the world does not change,
they will go on … they
will not build bridges, but rams, to shake the
walls inside which they are being trapped. Please excuse this hard language
… but everyday they are on my doorstep.
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5-3) If one day you have the opportunity to come to Tanger, at sunset when the
sky is clear … You can see the Spanish coast only
On this side, miserable salaries, deficient schooling, a health system
not covering the needs, no unemployment insurance, no RMI, a very low pension
for those who have all their lives benefited of a regular salary, a very
rudimentary social security … And morocco is almost Europe!
On the other side, all the possessions of the west where impression is
given that it is possible to be assisted for everything and in all fields … Who
is he who will not succumb to the temptation of trying this crossing? … Even if
life is not pink everyday! Even if the
crossing is at the peril of one’s life!
I am referring to this “irregular” migration from Africa, but in reading
the medias, is not a similar phenomenon taking place between the Latin American
countries and the
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5-4) All this I see and I sense from my observatory, from where I do not only
observe, because in so far as the Church is concerned, through the network of
Caritas, we do bring our share of support which in no way can constitute a
solution. Months ago, I used to note everyday in my agenda the number of
migrants that had been rescued and the number of bodies that had drifted on the
coast … I noted also the lands, further and further away, from where they had
come …But I stopped, the list had lengthened so much … and elsewhere I was
aware that the given figures were not significant, because how can such
embarkations arrive as a whole after travelling over
6) What can we do?
Starting from all this
life, whether we are from the South or from the North, and because we have
accepted to put the Évangile into our lives, and moreover because we are
members of MIAMSI, one way or another, we have social, economical, even
political responsibilities, even if we exercise liberal professions. And I
think that
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We cannot remain insensible,
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We cannot evade a human and Christian reflexion
if we really wish that migration becomes a chance.
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We cannot escape taking our political and
economical responsibilities, in all countries, those of the North as well as
those of the South, so that life is bearable in all our countries.
But I notice that this is far from being evident.
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6-1) To animate chorales,
to participate in groups of prayer, to participate to mass, this is quite
possible.
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6-2) But to invite occidentals to meet to reflect
about their lives in this country, about their lives in a Muslim country, in a
country that harbours a very strong clandestine migration, where an important
community of foreign residents live, this is a challenge that we have
difficulty in taking up… It is true that they are overwhelmed by their
professional responsibilities and the country is so beautiful that as soon as
there are two free days, they are gone to discover it.
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6-3) But to invite students to reflect about their present life in full Muslim
paste, to invite them to reflect on their future, on the future of their
country is also a challenge we have difficulty in taking up. Only two small
groups of young professionals manage to meet and reflect. Students also have
difficulty doing so.
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6-4) It looks
as if our human life was disconnected from our faith life … In the same time, I rejoice in noticing that some christians, during
their stay in our country find back some of their faith (like Charles de
Foucauld), or re-establish link with the Church institution … I then am
conscious that our homilies must be elaborated in this sense.
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6-5) Whether we are from the North or from the South, because we
have, or will have, economical, social, political and ecclesial
responsibilities, my opinion is that we have the duty to form ourselves to the Social Doctrine of the Church … In order to have another vision of this world to be constructed, this
loving vision Christ bears on humanity, this Christ who tells us that the
Spirit is active in the heart of each man. Even at the time when we reside in
foreign countries, we have the duty to form ourselves and to help others doing
so. Is it not a responsibility of MIAMSI, in the North as well as in the South?
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6-6) In the North as well a in the South, we are not required to be Christian
political men, but formed
political men who propose our Christian vision
and our Christian convictions, and this is something we cannot do alone, we
have to reflect first about it in the frame of the Church. To reflect about it
in Church in our own country will enable us to take advantage of the
opportunities arising in the countries where we will reside; but equally in our
own country, helping each one to benefit of all his rights and participate in
an honest development of his country… Many countries are involved in prickly
documents about South/North, North/North or South/South migrations. How can we,
as Christians, bring our brick so that this migration becomes a chance rather
than a scarecrow? This is when migration will become a chance to build bridges with solid
foundations, not only in such and such
country, but also in all the world’s countries.
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6-7) In the North as well as in the South, we are not required to be Christian
economists or christians managers, but we are expected to apply our Christian convictions in exercising our economical or managing functions. An enterprise must
first of all be profitable for the benefit of all; but is there not a christian
vision to offer? And do we not have here to consider all countries, be they of
the North or of the South. Members of MIAMSI, can we approve that only a few
countries pilot the world’s economy! This is a problem we have to reflect about
in the frame of the Church. It is then that migration
will become a chance to build bridges with solid foundations, not only in such
and such country, but also in all the world’s countries.
7) Conclusions
In concluding, I will say again how much migration may be a chance to build bridges
between religions. And I venture to mention the bridge between Islam and Catholicism.
For those of us Christians, who have the privilege to live on Islam soil,
I venture to say that Islam invites
us to deepen our Christian faith, or maybe for
some, like Charles
de Foucauld, to find back this Christian faith. In correlation, I think that
Christianity, even if it is in a symbolic order (on account of the tiny foreign
minority we represent) here, may help Muslims to understand that there is
another road to God; continuous contact is a reciprocal richness, even if we
seldom talk about religion.
In the same time I
believe, even if political connotations may be associated, that the presence of
Islam in the West may help the occidental Christians to deepen their faith. In
fact, a Muslim, especially when he is outside his country, assimilates
his Muslim religion to his identity. So, if we really wish to join them,
without fear, it is important that our Christian religion forms part of our
identity; otherwise, we shall never meet. This is an invitation to deepen our
faith, to form ourselves, to be proud of our Christian faith … We do not
have to be proselytises, but to be, together, praying believers.
Thank you
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Archbishop of