SimiRoma

Saturday, January 31, 2015, at the operational headquarters of SIMI, Via Dandolo 58, Rome, the study group SIMI - PUG held the first meeting for the year 2015. This group was formed as a joint initiative of the SIMI and the Pontifical Gregorian University and it itnends to study certain relevant areas of the phenomenon of human mobility. The study group currently consists of four professors from SIMI and 4 professors from the Gregorian University. For this year the study groups would address the issue of irregular migration.

On 30 January 2015 at the headquarters of SIMI in via Dandolo 58, Rome, the first Council of Institute of the Academic Year 2014-2015 was held. Fr. Fabio Baggio (director), Fr. Aldo Skoda (vicedirector and amdinistrator), Sara Salvatori (secretary), Fr. René Manenti, Bro. Gioacchino Campese, Fr. Luigi Sabbarese, Fr. Giovanni Rizzi and Deacon Carlos Barbosa attended the meeting. The Council approved the financial report for 2014, the budget for 2015 and the program of the courses for the licentiate in 2015-2017. The same Council also approved the Ph.D. research program of Fr. Pierre Mirindi.

On 23 January 2015 the Commissione di Pastorale Sociale of the Catholic Parrish of Bisogne, province of Brescia, organized the first of three nights dedicated to the issues and problems of immigration in Italy. The first night was titled "Immigration beyond common places". For such occasion the SIMI director was invited to  deliver a conference on the causes, trends and main data concerning the immigration phenomenon in Italy. The audience gathered for the event  actively participated in the open forum which  was  opened at the end of the conference,  underlining how some "myths" succeeded in detouring the attention of the public opinion, hiding the opportunities that immigrants offer to the Church [...]

On 18 January 2015 at the Centro San Luca in Sora (FR) the Office of Migrantes of the Diocese of Sora Cassino Aquino Pontecorvo organized a Round Table Discussion on the main theme of the 101 World Migrant and Refugee Day : "Church without Borders, Mather of All". The SIMI Director participated to the Round Table Discussion with a presentation titled, "The Theological Dimension of Christian Hospitality". The event, which was honored by the presence of the loca Bishop, H.E. the most Reverend Gerardo Antonazzo and the Prefetto of Frosinone, Dr. Emilia Zarrilli, gathered a good audience of experts and practitioners.