On December 10, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of His Holiness Pope Francis and Head of the Delegation of the Holy See to the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) gave an intervention during the General Debate of the Conference taking place in Marrakech, Morocco.   

In his intervention, Cardinal Parolin said that the adoption of the GCM comes at a critical moment in history as more and more people and families are being constrained by factors to leave their homes and undertake involuntary, unsafe and irregular journeys. The GCM, a comprehensive framework of best practices and suggested policy instruments to increase international cooperation and responsibility sharing, seeks to improve the governance of the migration phenomenon to prevent crises and tragedies. He gave particular attention to the question of migrant children and youth, to the right to remain, to integration as a two-way process, and to addressing the push and pull factors that drive people to migrate.

He summarized Pope Francis’ vision for international migration in the four action verbs to welcome, protect, promote and integrate, which he says pervade the GCM, and are already being implemented by Catholic institutions. He concluded by saying that the GCM, although not being signed by some States, is a significant advancement in the international community’s shared response to act in solidarity with people in precarious situations on the move.

The statement can be found here.