Papal Video Message
During the opening ceremony of the preparatory (stocktaking) meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference to adopt a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on 4 December 2017, the Holy Father delivered a recorded video message in which he invites everyone, individually and collectively, “to welcome, protect, promote and integrate” migrants and refugees as part of a global common response. At the end of his message, he turned his attention to the Global Compacts on Migration and on Refugees and called on those working on the Global Compacts to be inspired by “compassion, foresight and courage.”
The video message, which will be released officially to the public in the coming days, was shown for the first time at the stocktaking meeting in Puerto Vallarta for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. It is, however, meant as a proposal for addressing the situation of migrants and refugees beyond the discussion at the United Nations.
The video can be found here.
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On December 4, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Head of Delegation to the Stocktaking Meeting of the Preparatory Process towards the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration taking place in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, gave an intervention during the Meeting’s first panel, entitled “Retrospective Session: Looking Back on Phase I.
In his intervention, Archbishop Auza said that the informal thematic debates of this phase have led to clarity on how migration is a common, natural and human response to crisis and to desire for a better life, how the upcoming Global Compact needs to establish a comprehensive international framework featuring international cooperation and shared responsibility, and that strong consideration must be given to bilateral, regional and international agreements and processes, taking advantage of the expertise of institutions like the International Organization of Migration and civil society organizations, including faith-based ones. He shared Pope Francis’ framework that migrants must be welcomed, protected, promoted and integrated and described how each of those four elements are key toward the successful negotiation of an effective global framework.
His intervention can found here.