The 11th edition of the <\/span>\u201cReligione e Migra\u00e7\u00e3o\u201d Symposium<\/b>\u00a0(Religion and Migration) has come to a successful close, an event that year after year reaffirms itself as an important forum for theoretical reflection and practical action. Organized by the\u00a0<\/span>Faculty of Social Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University<\/b>\u00a0(<\/span>PUC<\/b>), specifically by its\u00a0<\/span>Graduate Program in Religious Studies<\/b>, by\u00a0<\/span>Miss\u00e3o Paz<\/b>\u2014a historic organization that has always been on the front lines working alongside migrants\u2014and by the\u00a0<\/span>Scalabrini International Migration Institute – SIMI<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n The symposium brought together, in a hybrid format\u2014both in-person and online\u2014academics, researchers, students, and civil society activists, united by the goal of analyzing human mobility not as a passing emergency, but as a\u00a0<\/span>structural and constitutive reality of our global age<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n During the conference, the debate laid bare the deep socio-economic contradictions of the neoliberal model. All too often, in fact, regulatory and market systems reduce human beings to\u00a0<\/span>mere productive utility<\/b>, transforming the person into a remnant, a\u00a0<\/span>\u201cwaste product\u201d of an unjust system<\/b>, as Pope Francis denounced. The symposium analyzed the political and legal barriers that hinder the emancipation of migrants, while also exploring the delicate generational nuances and the crucial role of women and families.<\/span><\/p>\n The presentation by Professor\u00a0<\/span>Aldo Skoda<\/b>, Director of SIMI, focused on a lucid sociocultural analysis of globalization from a future-oriented perspective.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cGlobalization has now given the phenomenon of migration a structural character,\u201d<\/span><\/i>explained Father Skoda.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cToday it is evident that the movement of people depends less and less on free choice and increasingly on structural disparities or crises.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Skoda highlighted the paradox of modernity: the acceleration of flows, capital, and media has not generated a global self-awareness, but rather isolation, creating a society of approximately\u00a0<\/span>\u201ceight billion loners\u201d<\/b>\u00a0who communicate with one another with enormous difficulty. Faced with the failure of the modern nation-state to govern cross-border spaces\u2014a failure that translates into\u00a0<\/span>institutional violence through the militarization of borders<\/b>\u00a0(as in the Mexico-U.S., Morocco-Spain, or Mediterranean regions)\u2014a change of course is urgently needed.<\/span><\/p>\n The proposal emerging from the ongoing debate is to adopt an\u00a0<\/span>\u201cEcological Paradigm\u201d of migration<\/b>, guided by the lens of\u00a0<\/span>social transformation<\/i><\/b>. This holistic approach invites us to consider\u00a0<\/span>human mobility<\/b>\u00a0not as an isolated problem, but as an\u00a0<\/span>active agent<\/b>\u00a0that profoundly transforms cultures, citizenship, families, and institutions both in societies of origin (often affected by\u00a0<\/span>brain drain<\/span><\/i>) and in those of destination.<\/span><\/p>\n While the macrosociological analysis highlights the need for a global paradigm shift, the historical and practical response to these systemic fractures finds a concrete path in the\u00a0<\/span>principle of the Sanctuary<\/b>, at the heart of Professor\u00a0<\/span>Gioacchino Campese<\/b>\u2019s contribution, who clarified that today\u2019s \u201csanctuary cities\u201d cannot be understood without analyzing this concept\u00a0<\/span>as a fundamental thought and practice of humanity and the Church<\/b>\u00a0in contexts of persecution, violence, and human mobility.<\/span><\/p>\n Developing his presentation through a\u00a0<\/span>four-part framework<\/b>\u2014from biblical and early Christian roots to a contemporary global overview, through to the 20th-century experiences of the clandestine sanctuary for Jews in Rome (1943\u201344) and the American\u00a0<\/span>Sanctuary Movement<\/span><\/i>\u00a0of the 1980s\u2014 Professor Campese outlined the concept of sanctuary as a\u00a0<\/span>tool for transnational and intercultural struggle<\/b>\u00a0against unjust immigration laws. This practice demands, above all, a\u00a0<\/span>prophetic dimension<\/b>\u00a0capable of\u00a0<\/span>taking concrete risks in the face of powerful forces<\/b>, accepting the price of detention or media vilification, and\u00a0<\/span>is nourished by a profound spirituality<\/b>\u00a0rooted in Social Doctrine and liberation theology. Far from being an isolated action, sanctuary today requires the\u00a0<\/span>building of broad ecumenical, interreligious, and secular coalitions<\/b>\u00a0dedicated to the common good, capable of\u00a0<\/span>translating resistance into legal and political alternatives<\/b>\u00a0to prevailing populism, always placing the resilience and active agency of migrants and refugees at the center of social transformation.<\/span><\/p>\n In the closing remarks of the Symposium, participants outlined the programmatic guidelines for the future challenges facing the academic world and civil society. The top priority is\u00a0<\/span>to combat the growing xenophobic and populist politicization of human mobility<\/b>, inextricably linking the management of migration flows to social justice and the recognition of universal human rights.<\/span><\/p>\n The university, for its part, is called upon to\u00a0<\/span>overcome \u201cmethodological nationalism\u201d<\/b>, promoting greater interdisciplinarity and the\u00a0<\/span>active involvement of migrants themselves in research and\u00a0<\/b>policy-making<\/i><\/b>\u00a0processes<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n The Symposium concluded in the spirit of hope and Scalabrinian spirituality. Just a few days before the feast of\u00a0<\/span>St. John Baptist Scalabrini<\/b>, his historic and prophetic words spoken in New York in 1901 resonated as a mandate for all those present: above the feverish pace of technical progress and material achievements, a far nobler and more sublime work is taking shape here on earth, namely\u00a0<\/span>the union of all people of good will<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n The 11th edition of the Symposium concluded with a solemn invitation to commit, together, to building\u00a0<\/span>\u201can ever-greater \u2018we\u2019\u201d<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n
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