The biblical quote that lends the title to this significant conference features human mobility as a constant of human life since its origins: migration is the past, the present and the future of humanity. Even if this passage does not speak specifically about the future, Holy Scriptures reminds us that we are journeying toward a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1) and that the finish line of the human voyage is the future that God has prepared. The message should be clear: the movements of persons and peoples are not an occasional and fleeting aspect of human life, but are in fact what defines it most profoundly. Humanity is a migratory species and, since we tend to forget what distinguishes us more accurately, this truth needs to be carved in our memory and periodically enhanced so that we can rediscover its always new implications in the different contexts in which we live. Theology has the fundamental responsibility to contribute to this task by highlighting the import of human mobility for God-talk, the church and the daily faith life of persons and communities both locally and globally
Br. Gioacchino Campese, cs
Gioacchino Campese is Scalabrinian missionary and Professor of Pastoral Theology of Human Mobility at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Urbanian University. He studied theology in Manila (Philippines), Chicago (USA) and Rome where he obtained a doctorate in missiology. He has written and edited several books and articles on the theology of migration. He has done pastoral work with migrants and refugees in Mexico, USA and Italy.