CEAST
EPISCOPAL PASTORAL COMMISSION FOR MIGRANTS AND ITINERANTS – CEPAMI, ANGOLA
CEPAMI SPECIFIC SECTORS
• ROAD PASTORAL
Father Juan Francisco Gómez – National Director of Pastoral da Estrada
• APOSTOLATE OF THE SEA
Father José César Marcelino – National Director of the Apostolate of the Sea
• CIVIL AVIATION PASTORAL
Father António Barbosa – National Director of Civil Aviation Ministry
• PASTORAL FOR REFUGEES AND MIGRANT COMMUNITIES
Father Samuel Tumbula – National Director of Pastoral Care for Migrants and Refugees
Mr. Isaías Afonso de Oliveira – Guest lawyer
ROAD PASTORAL
This specific Pastoral is aimed at road users (car drivers, truck drivers, motorcyclists and pedestrians, etc.) and the railway – the railway – and those who work in the various services linked to them, women and street children and people without a fixed address. – Guidelines for Road-Street Pastoral, Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care for Migrants and Itinerant People, 24 May 2007.
Objectives: To evangelize the road environment, proposing everywhere to transmit the joyful proclamation of the Gospel, the administration of the sacraments, spiritual direction, counseling and religious formation of motorists, professional transporters, passengers and those who are traveling somehow connected to the road and railway.
Raise awareness among all road users in order to respect the signs set out in the highway code.
Why Pastoral da Estrada?
When driving, the driver is never alone: “coexistence” is a fundamental dimension of man, and, therefore, the road must be more human. Driving a vehicle is a way of relating, of getting closer, of integrating into a community of people. This ability to “get along”, to enter into relationships with others, presupposes in the driver some concrete and specific qualities: being his own person, prudence, courtesy, an appropriate spirit of service and knowledge of the rules of the traffic code. Selfless help must be given to those in need, setting an example of charity and hospitality.
• The road is no longer just a means of communication; it becomes a place of life, where a large part of one’s time is spent.
• “Road and rail movement are, therefore, something good, as well as an inevitable requirement of the life of contemporary man.
• If he makes good use of the means of transport, accepting them as gifts that God grants him, and which are at the same time the fruit of the work of his diligent hands and his commitment, he will be able to take advantage of them for his own human and Christian From the Christian commitment in the places of the road and railway movement, which we call «Pastoral da Estrada», comes the duty to develop and promote inclusively an adequate and corresponding expression of «spirituality», rooted in the Word of God.
• A spirituality understood in this way gives rise to the light capable of giving meaning to all of life, precisely from what is experienced on the road and railway movement. Mobility, a phenomenon that characterizes contemporary man, must be lived in a Christian way, exercising the theological and cardinal virtues. For the faithful, the road also becomes a path to holiness.”
Activities that can be carried out
• Celebrations and activities on Driver’s Day (July 25th – Saint Christopher’s Day, patron saint of drivers),
• Preparation and distribution of material related to Pastoral da Estrada,
• Radio interviews,
• Lectures in parishes, including with traffic agents,
• Blessing of vehicles,
• Prayer vigil and reflection with drivers,
• Evangelization of the road by already organized groups of drivers,
• Prayer and blessing at bus stops and truck parking lots,
• Making t-shirts with the words “PEACE ON THE ROAD”.
• Others…
We can then conclude with what the former Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People tells us, in the Document “Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road-Street”:
“The evangelization of the road environment is proposed in this peculiar context, facilitating everywhere the transmission of the Joyful Announcement and the administration of the Sacraments, spiritual direction, counseling and religious formation of motorists, professional transporters, passengers and those who are in some way connected to the road and railway.”
Groups with which it operates:
• Road users: car drivers, truck drivers, motorcyclists and pedestrians, etc.
• From the railway: the railway and those who work in the various services linked to them (train passengers, salespeople on the railway line…)
• Street women
• Street Boys
• People without a fixed address.
• Traffic regulators
• Fuel sellers
• Road accident detachments
CIVIL AVIATION PASTORAL
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is part of the universal mission of the Church, to proclaim the good news to all people in the world of civil aviation.
Groups with which it operates:
• To crew members, including those undergoing training,
• To ground and airport staff and service providers,
• Workers refueling planes or serving passengers,
• To passengers and special categories,
• To the refugees who are in holding centers at the airport,
• To people in difficulty, the homeless, who find refuge at airports, and other people in similar situations.
• Includes contact with families and Civil Aviation retirees.
• To all who belong to the Civil Aviation community, permanently or temporarily, regardless of nationality, religious belief or culture, paying special attention to those who, among them, are most impoverished, disadvantaged, suffering or marginalized.
Possible concrete actions:
• There must be a Catholic chapel and/or ecumency at airports;
• Pastoral services: personal contacts, pastoral care, liturgical services, celebrations, etc.
• There must be a chaplain and/or deacon, religious, other pastoral agents and social collaborators at the airport;
• Funeral chapel in the cargo area for dignified care when embarking or disembarking the remains.
Patron Saint of Civil Aviation: Our Lady of Loreto
APOSTOLATE OF THE SEA
Every year, on the second Sunday in July, Sea Sunday is celebrated. Catholic communities around the world pray for those who work in the maritime sector and those who look after them.
Sunday by the Sea is an opportunity to draw attention to one of the sectors that is little talked about, but which is at the center of everyone’s lives. Cardinal Czerny highlights that “sea workers are among the least visible members of all humanity, but it is through their hidden efforts that they meet many of our needs.”
Such efforts often face injustice, exploitation and inequality. This is why the Church accompanies and defends workers. “It is wonderful when the dignity and rights of these professionals are defended by volunteers, chaplains and members of local Churches who dedicate themselves to the pastoral care of the sea in ports.”
It was through the sea that the Church was formed and spread throughout the world.
The Apostolate of the Sea is responsible for the pastoral care of the Peoples of the Sea: merchant and fishing sailors, passenger and cruise ships, platform workers; port and maritime workers; families and retirees from the above-mentioned sectors; students from nautical institutes; all those who collaborate in a stable way with the Apostolate of the Sea.
Seafarers are among the least visible members of all humanity, but it is through their hidden efforts that they meet many of our needs.” Such efforts often face injustice, exploitation and inequality. This is why the Church accompanies and defends workers and, as Cardinal Czerny states, “it is wonderful when the dignity and rights of these professionals are defended by volunteers, chaplains and members of local Churches who are dedicated to the pastoral care of the sea in ports .”
Activities to be carried out
– Blessing to fishermen, boats and believers.
– Raising awareness among fishermen.
– Training with the maritime police.
PASTORAL FOR REFUGEES AND MIGRANT COMMUNITIES
Groups with which it operates:
• Refugees
• Returnees
• Returnees
• Migrants
• People who are victims of human trafficking
The pastoral action with refugees is inspired by the Family of Nazareth, who are forced to leave their homeland and seek asylum in Egypt, to escape the wrath of the King, who orders persecution and death for the innocent:
Behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said to him: ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, because Herod is going to look for the boy and kill him.” (Mt. 2, 13-14).
This task is expressed through several attitudes
• Personal contact,
• defense of individual and group rights,
• reporting injustices and the causes that generate refugees,
• demand for laws that guarantee the effective protection of refugees,
• education against xenophobia,
• formation of volunteer groups and funds for emergencies and spiritual assistance. (cf. n. 26)
• Calls on the Christian community to overcome fear and distrust towards refugees;
• should not consider them as a threat to their cultural identity and well-being, but welcome them as a stimulus to walk with these new brothers, rich in particular gifts, in an incessant process of forming a people capable of celebrating its unity in diversity.
• Benevolence, respect, trust and sharing concretely express a culture of solidarity and acceptance. (cf. N. 27)
Direct action with migrants and refugees
• Reception, especially in border regions or with a large number of asylum seekers and refugees;
• Legal guidance and defense of processes;
• Emergency assistance upon arrival in the country and, in special cases, for several months, until the refugee request is defined;
• Passing on guidance to any Network partner, regarding individual or collective situations; accommodation in hostels or guesthouses;
• Psychological assistance;
• Search for schools and measures so that children and adolescents do not miss school age in their training process;
• Support and defense, including legal, in the event of arrest or imprisonment or in extradition proceedings;
• Coordination with other religious denominations for service, worship or socio-assistance support;
• Legal and Administrative Consultancy, to support foreigners in deciding whether to request refuge and in the case of presenting appeals, when the request is denied;
• Religious activities with migrants and refugees (Masses, celebrations, ecumenical worship)
• Migrant and Refugee Fair.
• Celebrations of International Migrants and Refugees Day stipulated by the Church and the UN
• Pilgrimage to the National Sanctuary with Migrants and Refugees.
• Weeks to raise awareness of the rights of Migrants and Refugees.
• Artistic exhibitions on Migrant and Refugee Day.
Let us walk in synodality with the different pastorals, this is an open path and a moving thought. “However, we must always remember the spiritual dimension: on this journey there is an invisible pilgrim who is Jesus.”
And this is the reason why Pope Francis invites us to be more synodal: to encounter Christ.
Synodality is based on an act of faith that renews the importance of the mission and, above all, listening to the Holy Spirit.
This is a fundamental perspective within which we must listen to others, although we always remain open to the surprises that the Spirit will certainly provide us along the way.
Each specific sector of the Human Mobility Ministry must seek to respond to the needs of its time and reality. The Church is always attentive and sensitive to the most forgotten and disadvantaged in society.
Our mission is to present the face of Christ the Pilgrim who welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates.
Thanks for the attention!…
Sr. Carla Frey Bamberg, Scalabrinian