CatholicOutlook August 2015
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AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC MIGRANT AND REFUGEE OFFICE
Celebrating 20 years of mission
Fr Maurizio Pettena CS
Welcoming the stranger, a characteristic
of the early Church, remains a permanent
feature of the Church of God. It is marked
by the vocation to be in exile, in diaspora,
dispersed among cultures and ethnic
groups without ever identifying itself
completely with any of these.
Welcoming the stranger is thus intrinsic
to the nature of the Church itself and
bears witness to its fidelity to the Gospel
(Erga Migrantes, 22).
The Catholic Church in Australia has
long been at the forefront in the pastoral
care of migrants and refugees.
History
In 1944, the Australian Episcopal
Conference created a sub-committee on
immigration. The sub-committee, chaired
by Bishop McGuire, was appointed to look
after the interests of Catholics with regard
to immigration.
Lay committees already formed under
their respective bishops in NSW and
other states came under the direction of
Bishop McGuire.
The Bishop and the sub-committee
were aware that there was a strong
determination by powerful influences to
increase the population of Australia by
means of immigration.
It was a matter of waiting for the
repatriation of servicemen and clarification
of economic conditions before encouraging
mass immigration.
In response to a request from
the Australian Government to have
a Catholic body responsible for
‘In the “strangers”, the
Church sees Christ who
“pitches his tent among
us” and “knocks at
our door.”’
immigration matters, Bishop McGuire
was granted approval to form the Federal
Catholic Migration Committee (FCMC),
later the Federal Catholic Immigration
Committee (FCIC), by selecting its
members and preparing a constitution.
In April 1947, the committee was
announced, although Western Australia
already had a Catholic body called
the Episcopal Migration and Welfare
Association, which was responsible for
bringing out Catholic migrant children
from the UK and accommodating them in
orphanages in WA.
Offices open nationally
Catholic Migration Offices were opened
in capital cities and state committees were
formed of archdiocesan and diocesan
representatives. The Federal Office opened
in Sydney.
The opening of these offices in 1947
coincided with the commencement of
free and assisted migration to Australia.
In the early part of the operation, the
work centred around British migrants
and displaced persons, many of whom
were Catholics.
During 1948, the flow of migrants to
Australia continued to increase. Around this
time, it became obvious that there was a
need for priests from various nationalities to
minister to migrants in their own language.
The recruitment of overseas priests on
an individual basis and need, determined
by the local bishops, commenced in 1948.
The Australian Catholic Migrant and
Refugee Office (ACMRO) was established
by the Australian Catholic Bishops
Conference on 1 July 1995.
It took the place of two previous ACBC
bodies, the Federal Catholic Immigration
Committee and the Australian Catholic
Refugee Office, and assumed many of
their functions.
ACMRO reported to the ACBC
through the Bishops Committee for
Migrants and Refugees.
New challenges
Today, due to the new challenges we face,
Two Burmese refugee boys in Ban Mai Nai Soi temporary shelter in Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
Photo: Seipoe/Shutterstock.com
there is a greater emphasis about migrants
and refugees than there in the past.
Consequently, this has led to
another focus, the emphasis on
education and awareness rising
within the Church at all levels.
Aware of the challenges that lie ahead,
the ACMRO team celebrates with gratitude
to the Lord on this anniversary. The
ACMRO remembers with an immense debt
of gratitude the leadership of the bishop
delegates; Bishop Patrick Dogherty and
Bishop Joseph Grech, the hard work of past
ACMRO Directors Mons. Crennan and
Mons. Murphy and the dedication of the
many staff who have been companions on
this journey.
The latest document issued by the
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of
Migrants and Itinerant People (Cor Unum)
is Welcoming Christ in Refugees and Forcibly
Displaced Persons.
Christ ‘knocks at our door’
These pastoral guidelines state what should
be the way of the Church in considering
and treating the stranger. “In the ‘strangers’,
the Church sees Christ who ‘pitches his tent
among us’ and ‘knocks at our door’” (n. 22).
It also points out that very often,
Migrant and
Refugee Sunday
30 August 2015
This year’s theme:
‘Church without frontiers,
Mother to all’
www.acmro.org.au
“through the action inspired by the Gospel
of Church-related agencies, or even
individuals, wrought with great generosity
and self-sacrifice, one comes to know the
love of Christ and the transforming power
of its grace in these situations that are, in
themselves, very often hopeless” (n. 3). In
the ‘strangers’, the Church sees Christ who
‘pitches his tent among us’ and that ‘knocks
at our door’” (n. 22).
In the stranger, the Church hears the
voice of Christ echoing within the very
depth of our Christian identity: “I was a
stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt 25:35).
Fr Maurizio Pettena CS is Director of the
Australian Catholic Migrant and
Refugee Office.
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