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各位教友： 由八月二十四至三十日的一個星期﹐教會慶祝第95屆「普世移民和難民日」。今年教宗為這一重要事項所訂立的主題是「聖保祿﹕移民和人民的使徒」。以教宗的意向為基礎﹐澳洲教區修訂主題為「聖保祿﹕澳洲移民和難民的使徒」﹐讓它與澳洲更貼近。 「人口遷移」這現象現已達到世界性的層面﹐更成為全球二億人口的共通點。這廣泛的人口移動無疑正衝擊著澳洲天主教會。 本地教會面臨的最大挑戰是﹕如何把多元文化納入主流教會﹐滋養她成為唯一更強､更大的教會﹐以免陷入支離破碎､各自為政的局面。 正如我先前提到的，教宗提議研習聖保祿的背景﹐來察動自省和籌辦活動來呼應這個重要的日子。大家都知道，聖保祿出生於塔爾蘇斯的一個猶太移民家庭，其教育深深受到希伯來和希臘文化及語言薰陶，正正就是羅馬帝國的主流文化。這複雜的狀況亦顯映在現今的移民教友身上。 教會不斷重新界定､檢討和推行牧養移民和難民的工作。如果想了解更多這方面的工作﹐大家可以閱讀「主教理事會」於2004年5月1日出版的一分重要文件﹐該指令被稱為“ERGA MIGRANTES CARITAS CHRISTI” (意指「基督對移民的愛」）。 澳洲天主教會在移民身上委實獲益良多。公元 2000 年 ﹐「澳洲天主教主教會議」在坎培拉所發表的一份聲明中說﹕「在澳洲，我們已經體驗到人口的遷移能打破人與人之間的地域壁壘。那些基於地理､文化､政治和宗教而遙遙相距的人們，如今彼此可以生活在同一土地上和更好地相互了解﹐這有助逐步滅退累積了許多世代的相互偏見和恆久對抗。澳洲教會認識到本地教會確實受益於移民團體 ----- 如人數的增加､信仰的落實､禮儀的標記､虔敬的展現､對外開放､兼容不同文化和種族。」 在這個星期﹐就讓我們懷著無比善心﹐並以團結一致的精神﹐來為所有移民和難民獻上我們的禱告。 主佑 莫靖龍神父 (此乃莫神父致教友書信之意譯，書信內容以英文為準) |
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Dear Parishioners: Starting on Monday 24th to up to Sunday 30th of August the Church celebrates the 95th World Day of Migrants and Refugees. This year, the theme for this important event given by the Pope is “St Paul, migrant, Apostle of the peoples”. The Church in Australia has tried to make this a more relevant theme and based on the intention of the Pope has “St Paul Migrant, Apostle of Migrant and Refugees in Australia” The migration phenomenon has grown to take on dimensions of the entire world and now is the common denominator of almost 200 million people. The Catholic Church in Australia is one of the most impacted by this fact of human movement. One of the biggest challenges a Church like Australia has to face is the constant question of How do we welcome all this diversity in the middle of our communities so to grow even stronger as one and avoid the risk of becoming fragmented and each going its way? As I mentioned before, the Pope has proposed St Paul as the background for the reflections and activities on this important day this year. As we all know, St Paul was born into a family of Jewish immigrants in Tarsus, Paul was educated in the Hebrew and Hellenistic cultures and languages, making the most of the Roman cultural context. This complex reality pretty much reflects the reality of so many immigrants. The Church is continuously redefining and implementing the pastoral care for migrants and refugees. An important document to understand more about this pastoral work is one published by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. The instruction is called “ERGA MIGRANTES CARITAS CHRISTI” (The Love of Christ towards Migrants) and was published on May 1, 2004. The Catholic Church in Australia has benefited in many ways by migration as the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said in a Statement on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees in Canberra in 2000; “in Australia we have come to experience through migration that geographical barriers between people can disappear, and those who were geographically, culturally, politically, religiously far apart from each other can now come to live together and to know each other better this helps gradually to erode prejudice and historical rivalries built over many centuries. The Catholic Church in Australia recognizes how migrants have benefited the Catholic community amongst these are- increased memberships, active practice, symbols, practices and devotions, a sense of openness, inclusiveness of many people and cultures”. In the spirit of charity and unity let us pray this week for all the migrants and refugees. Peace in Jesus Fernando Montano MG |