Migrants will always be in the heart of the Catholic Church, finding a home away from home, a parish and community that is always open to welcome them into their midst, Fr Jun Perez SVD said in a presentation to a national conference on migrants and refugees recently.

Fr Jun was among the guest speakers at the 8th ACMRO conference in Sydney, which took the theme ‘Migrant Communities in a Synodal Church’, exploring how migrant communities serve as evangelisers and missionaries of hope within the Church and the broader Australian community.

The conference brought together bishops, clergy, religious, pastoral workers, migrant chaplaincies, community leaders and lay representatives from diverse cultural backgrounds. The program featured keynote presentations by Cardinal Fabio Baggio, Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Dr Trudy Dantis, Director of the National Centre for Pastoral Research.

Over two days, participants engaged in prayer, keynote presentations, dialogue and Conversations in the Spirit, focusing on the contributions of migrant communities to the life, mission and future of the Catholic Church in Australia.

Cardinal Baggio unpacked the extensive teaching on migrants and refugees from both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, beginning with Pope Francis’ promotion of the idea of a ‘Culture of Encounter’ and the insistence of both popes on recognising the inherent dignity of migrants and refugees as persons.

Drawing largely on Pope Francis’ teaching in Fratelli Tutti, Cardinal Baggio highlighted that in the midst of people living in the existential peripheries, there are many migrants, refugees, displaced people and victims of trafficking that have become “emblems of exclusion”.

“In addition to the hardships that their condition entails, they are often looked down upon and considered the source of all society’s ills.” (Francis, 2019b). Forgoing the encounter with them means depriving oneself of “the gift present in an encounter with those outside one’s own circle” (FT, 90); it means missing an “opportunity for enrichment and for the integral human development of all” (FT, 133).

According to Pope Francis, to prevent an encounter from turning into a confrontation, at least three preparatory steps must be taken: a) overcoming fears; b) crossing borders; c) preparing adequately.

“Christian communities are especially called to become leaven for hosting societies, helping them to understand the complex phenomenon of migration and to foster an environment conducive to mutual encounter,” Cardinal Baggio said.

“We must divulge the best practices of welcome and encounter, consistently use positive language when speaking of migrants and refugees, correct false representations, and promote empathy and solidarity on behalf of brothers and sisters coming from afar.

“Preparation for such encounters must also create opportunities to experience direct contact with migrants and refugees. Parishes should provide spaces for sharing experiences and celebrating cultural diversity. All members of Christian communities are invited to reach out to newcomers and invite them to join in parish life.”

Cardinal Baggio said the culture of encounter must be understood alongside Pope Francis’ other ‘cultural’ proposals: the culture of care, the culture of hope, the culture of solidarity, and the culture of life.

“Specifically, the culture of encounter must be linked with the culture of care. Their joint action, in my opinion, shows the only way to save our humanity from the shipwreck of dehumanisation,” he said.

Cardinal Baggio said that although it is still early in his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV had spoken often of migrants and refugees, insisting above all else that their human dignity be honoured.

“Migrants are not numbers, files, or problems to be managed; they are people. Even when forced to leave everything behind, even when crossing the desert or the sea, they are never stripped of their dignity,” the Cardinal said of Pope Leo’s teaching.

“From this, stems a fundamental assertion: dignity comes first. It does not lose its value when crossing a border; it does not depend on the possession of documents, and it cannot be suspended in the name of security or national interest.

“For Leo XIV, the common good itself is the social expression of human dignity (Leo XIV, 2026a:59); therefore, every migration policy must be measured by its capacity to safeguard life, guarantee safe and legal pathways, rescue those in danger, combat traffickers, protect victims, and promote genuine processes of welcome and integration.”

In her presentation, Dr Dantis drew on her own experience of being a migrant, who, in her lifetime has relocated from her home country of India to New Zealand, Australia, back to India and then back to Australia again.

She also spoke about how the experience of being a part of the Synod on Synodality in Rome, with its emphasis on listening in the Spirit, had deepened her lived understanding of creating space to truly encounter others.

“Pope Francis repeatedly insisted that a synodal Church is not a parliament or an opinion poll, nor merely an exercise in ecclesial administration. Synodality is a process of spiritual discernment: a space for the action of the Holy Spirit, in which the Church listens attentively, receives the gifts of others and allows itself to be changed by encounter,” she said.

“This is why migrant communities have so much to teach us. Migrants know what it means to live between worlds, to carry memory and loss, to build belonging in unfamiliar places, and to walk toward a future not yet fully visible.

“In that sense, migrant communities are not at the margins of a synodal Church. They are at the centre. They show us how hope can survive adversity, how faith can travel across borders, how the Gospel of mercy and love can renew relationships and how a culture of encounter can contribute to the unity of peoples.”

Fr Jun spoke about the ministry of the Divine Word Missionaries in the Australia Province, with particular emphasis on its work in multicultural parishes, ethnic chaplaincies and migrant and First Nations communities.

“The presence of migrants in every parish and community is a reality that needs to be addressed accordingly,” he said.

“They give new dynamics in the life of the Church. They bring the richness of their faith experiences, practices and their generosity in the parish or community where they belong.

Fr Jun said people leave their home country for many reasons, including the search for a better life, to escape poverty or increase their professional opportunities, family reunification, inter-marriages, higher education, or conflict in their country of origin.

He said it was the experience of the SVD that migrants make great contributions to parish communities in areas such as parish pastoral council leadership, liturgical ministry such as serving as lectors, commentators, choir members, altar servers and Eucharistic ministers.

“The Catholic Church has different charisms,” he said.

“As a universal Church, she is gifted with a diverse culture coming from the four corners of the world. Now, in the context of the Catholic Church in Australia, it offers a multi-faceted realm because of the presence of migrants.

“Though the Catholic Church in Australia presents a variety of colours, languages and ethnicities, they are bonded in one Church founded by the Lord Jesus himself.

“The people on the go, the people in diaspora, will always be in the heart of the Catholic Church wherever they will go. They will always find a home away from home, a parish and community that is always open to welcome them into their midst.”

PHOTOS

TOP RIGHT: SVD AUS Provincial Fr Boni Buahendri SVD (left), Cardinal Fabio Baggio (centre), and Fr Jun Perez SVD (right) at the ACMRO conference in Sydney.

BOTTOM LEFT: Attendees at the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office conference following Mass celebrated by Archbishop Christopher Prowse (front, centre). Photo courtesy of ACMRO website.