At Davos Forum, Cardinal Parolin urges Europe toward constructive engagement with migrants

January 19, 2017

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Vatican’s Secretary of State told the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations that “we have to learn the lesson of history” in approaching the question of migration.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that the influx of migrants into Europe is “not a new phenomenon,” although he conceded that the scale of migration today is history. He lamented that some Europeans are “living with fear and a sense of malaise,” worried about the loss of their national identity. The cardinal argued that the “encounter between cultures” is a constant facet of world history. He said that the challenge for political leaders is “how to make differences not a cause of conflicts, and clashes, and divisions, but a source of mutual enrichment.”

Cardinal Parolin told the Davos Forum that the Holy See will continue to play an active role in international affairs, although “we ave very limited in a certain sense.” The Vatican, he said, will always work for peace, against poverty, and for the building of bridges between nations and societies.

In particular, the cardinal said, the Vatican will work “to protect, to defend, to promote religious freedom,” which is “the first human right.” He explained: “The centrality of the person is transcendence, and the fact that the person is called to be the brother of other human beings.” Without that understanding, he remarked, “other objectives will prevail, and will in the end damage and destroy the person and the community.”

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Cardinal Parolin speaks at World Economic Forum in Davos (Vatican Radio)