VATICAN CITY – Benedict XVI will call for improved legislation on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in January, the Vatican announced Nov. 21.
In the prepared text, issued well in advance of the date, January 14, so that Roman Catholic parishes around the world can study it, the pope call" the integration of immigrants in their new home countries.
Citing the Gospel of Matthews’s account
of the flight of Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus to Egypt, he says, “In this
misfortune experienced by the Family of Nazareth... we can catch a glimpse of
the painful condition in which all migrants live, especially refugees, exiles,
evacuees, internally displaced persons, those who are persecuted."
“Millions and millions” of migrants and
refugees face “hardships and humiliations, deprivation and fragility," the
text states.
The pope will urge that “everything... be
done to guarantee the rights and dignity of (migrant) families."
The message concludes: “May the World Day
of Migrants and Refugees become a useful occasion to build awareness, in the
ecclesial community and public opinion, regarding the needs and problems, as
well as the positive potentialities, of migrant families."
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Virginia –
Immigration topped the agenda Nov. 18 as the nation’s newly-elected governors
met here to get pointers on how to run a state, AP reported.
Ten new governors and 14 current
officeholders attended the gathering, sponsored every two years by the National
Governors Association.
“It is a comfort to know you have
colleagues in other states who are facing the same challenges," said
Massachusetts Gov.-elect Deval Patrick.
At a news conference, the governors said
immigration was a top issue.
Some criticized Congress for failure to
pass a comprehensive immigration plan this year. They are looking for action
when the Democrat-controlled Congress takes over in 2007.
“It’s obviously a federal issue, but it
affects each and every state,” said Florida Gov.-elect Charlie Crist.
Other governors-elect attending the
retreat at the historic Greenbrier resort were Mike Beebe of Arkansas, Bill
Ritter of Colorado, C.L. “Butch” Otter of Idaho, Chet Culver of Iowa, Martin
O’Malley of Maryland, Jim Gibbons of Nevada, Eliot Spitzer of New York and Ted
Strickland of Ohio.
The retreat follows an election in which
Democrats took a majority of governorships for the first time since 1994.
Crist, Gibbons and Otter were the only Republicans among the 10 new governors
at the retreat.
The governors said the message they have
gotten from the public was a desire for bipartisanship, particularly at the
national level.
“The message to Congress is that we need
each other,” Culver said.
The governors said they would also focus
on education, health care and emergency preparedness.
The seminars offer a chance to take a
breather before the new governors are sworn in and new legislative sessions
begin, said West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, the host of the retreat at the
6,500-acre resort in the heart of the Appalachians.
“When you go home as governor, that’s
when the real fun starts,” Manchin said.
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