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“Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay” Pastoral care with migrants and refugees. Training course  | 18-21 September 2023 It ended yesterday, September 21, 2023, the training course for religious sister “Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay” Pastoral care with migrants and refugees organized in preparation for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, to be celebrated on Sunday, Septermber 24, 2023. Organized by the Scalabrini International Migration Institute (SIMI) in collaboration with the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) and promoted by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the course was aimed at [...]

The first day of the training course for religious sisters “Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay”. Pastoral care with migrants and refugees was held today, both online and in presence. The course is organized by the Scalabrini International Migration Institute (SIMI) and the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), and promoted by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. We share the opening address by Fr. Aldo Skoda. Together with him, Sister Mary John Kudiyiruppil, SSpS, Associate Executive Secretary of UISG Dear course participants, thank you for your presence on these days of dialogue and training around such [...]

At a time like the present, where migrations redefine the traditional arrangements on which living in society is based, fostering encounters between "us" and those who are "others" is an indispensable prerequisite for building a society that wants to define itself as inclusive, supportive and open to encountering others. What is young people's perception of the migration phenomenon? The young people we intercept through our proposals are, normally, people who are curious and open to the encounter with diversity, and have a desire to get involved. Sometimes, interacting with contexts and people from very different cultural and religious backgrounds, we [...]

Last April 24, the Webinar People not numbers... (Un)Welcoming migrants in Europe was held online. This was the first of an ecumenical and international webinar series aim at fostering critical perspectives on migration in Europe. The series facilitates an ongoing conversation on these issues among theologians and migration scholars, refugees and migrants, activists, and church and civic leaders. This initiative provides a platform for dialogues and exchange of experiences of good practices and lessons learned among Christian communities. After opening greetings from Fr. Aldo Skoda, director of SIMI and professor of Pastoral Theology and Human Mobility at the Pontifical Urbanina University, [...]

These guidelines were commissioned by the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Promotion ofIntegral Human Development and drafted by Professor Fr. Aldo Skoda C.S. and Professor Gioacchino Campese C.S. of the Scalabrini International Migration Institute (SIMI). They do not constitute a new magisterial document but faithfully draw from what has already been wisely codified by the universal Magisterium. The document came about as a response to an explicit request from many bishops’ conferences and dioceses interested in developing a pastoral care for migrants that is up to contemporary challenges. It is particularly nour- ished by the “Pastoral [...]