Journeying Together: Challenges Facing the Migrant Today
• Conference on migration jointly hosted by the Bishops’ Conference Councils for Emigrants and Immigrants
You, or a representative, are invited to attend a conference on migration entitled: ‘Journeying Together: Challenges Facing the Migrant Today’ which will be jointly hosted by the Councils for Emigrants and Immigrants of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. See programme below. The migration conference will be chaired by Mr Shane Coleman, political editor of Newstalk 106FM, columnist and author. Details:
Photocall 9.30am on Wednesday 19 February 2014 at the ‘Famine statues’ outside the venue with Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Bishop Raymond Field, Bishop John Kirby, Mr Shane Coleman and Ms Cecilia Taylor-Camara.
Conference details 9.45am – 1.30pm on Wednesday 19 February 2014
Venue Jury’s Inn Hotel, Custom House Quay, Dublin 1
In attendance Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin; Bishop Raymond Field, Chair of the Council for Immigrants; Bishop John Kirby, Chair of the Council for Emigrants; Mr Stefan Kessler, Policy and Advocacy Officer for the Jesuit Refugee Service, Europe;
Ms Cecilia Taylor-Camara, Senior Policy Adviser, Office for Migration Policy of the Catholic Church in England & Wales; people who work with migrants at parish level; members of the Bishops’ Councils for Emigrants and Immigrants; officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and of the Department of Justice; and, NGOs working in the field migration.
This is a national conference celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the Pontifical Instruction Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi (The love of Christ towards Migrants). It will provide a unique opportunity to explore both emigration and immigration in an Irish, European and global context. Speakers at the conference will include Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, who will deliver the keynote address; Mr Stefan Kessler, Policy and Advocacy Officer for the Jesuit Refugee Service, Europe; and, Ms Cecilia Taylor-Camara, Senior Policy Adviser, Office for Migration Policy of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The conference workshops will offer forums to discuss the effects of migration on the undocumented, families, prisoners and trafficking. Workshops will be facilitated by Mr Richard King, Crosscare Migrant Project in Dublin; Father Alan Hilliard, Irish Bishops’ Council for Emigrants; Father Bobby Gilmore SSC, Migrants Rights Centre of Ireland; Sister Mary Ryan rsm, Act to Prevent Trafficking (APT); Father Gerry McFlynn, Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas; and, Mr Eugene Quinn, Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), Ireland.
Programme for conference: ‘Journeying Together: Challenges Facing the Migrant Today’
9.15-9.45 Registration and refreshments
9.45-9.50 Welcome – Mr Shane Coleman, Chair of conference
9.50-10.00 Prayer and Welcome – Bishop Raymond Field, Chair of the Council for Immigrants of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
10.00-10.45 Keynote Address – Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin and Vice President of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
10.45-11.05 Address – Mr Stefan Kessler, Policy and Advocacy Officer of the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) Europe, Brussels.
11.05-11.25 Address – Ms Cecilia Taylor-Camara, Senior Policy Advisor to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
11.25-11.45 Refreshments
11.45-12.20 Workshops – see details below
a. Family
b. Undocumented
c. Trafficking
d. Prisoners
12.20-12.30 Break
12.30-1.20 Feedback from workshops and roundtable discussion
1.20-1.30 Closing – Bishop John Kirby, Chair of the Council for Emigrants of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
1.30 Light lunch
Workshops
A. The impact of migration on the families of migrant workers and those in the asylum process – facilitated by Mr Richard King, Crosscare Migrant Project in Dublin.
B. The politics of undocumented migration – facilitated by Father Alan Hilliard, Council for Emigrants and Father Bobby Gilmore SSC, Migrants Rights Centre of Ireland
C. Human trafficking – facilitated by Sister Mary Ryan rsm, Act to Prevent Trafficking (APT).
D. Irish prisoners overseas and foreign national prisoners in Ireland – facilitated by Father Gerry McFlynn, Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas, and Mr Eugene Quinn, Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), Ireland.
Background information on the conference speakers
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1969. He pursued higher studies in moral theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. In 1986 he and was appointed Under-Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and in 1994 Secretary of the same Pontifical Council. On 5 December 1998 he was appointed Titular Bishop of Glendalough and received the Episcopal ordination at the hands of Pope John Paul II in St Peter’s Basilica. In March 2001 he was elevated to the dignity of Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio and undertook responsibilities as Permanent Observer of the Holy See in Geneva, at the United Nations Office and Specialised Agencies and at the World Trade Organisation. Archbishop Martin was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Dublin on 3 May 2003 and succeeded Cardinal Desmond Connell as Archbishop of Dublin on 26 April 2004. Archbishop Martin is Vice President of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, chairman of the Bishops’ Council on Europe and a Trustee of Trócaire, the overseas aid agency of the Bishops’ Conference.
Mr Stefan Kessler is the Policy and Advocacy Officer for the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe: The JRS is an international Catholic organization that aids refugees, forcibly displaced peoples, and asylum seekers and it operates at national and regional levels. The JRS has programmes in 51 countries. The main areas of work are in the field of education, emergency assistance, health and nutrition, income-generating activities, and social services. In total, more than 600,000 individuals are direct beneficiaries of JRS projects. Over 1,400 workers contribute to the work of JRS, the majority of whom work on a voluntary basis, including about 78 Jesuit priests, brothers and scholastics, 66 religious from other congregations, and more than 1,000 lay people. These figures do not include the large number of refugees recruited to take part in programmes as teachers, health workers and others. JRS is also involved in advocacy and human rights work. This involves ensuring that refugees are afforded their full rights as guaranteed by the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees and working to strengthen the protection afforded to internally displaced persons.
Ms Cecilia Taylor-Camara is the Senior Policy Adviser – Office for Migration Policy of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The office for Migration Policy focuses on:
– The pastoral challenges in the care of migrants:
Putting in place an enabling structure and process for the pastoral care of migrants in each diocese in the light of the recommendations of the Bishops’ document on the Church’s Mission to Migrants.
Pastoral care for migrant families and support for the reunification of migrant families.
Facilitating the integration of migrants into Church and society.
– Policy challenges in the care of migrants:
Trafficking for sexual exploitation
Concern for migrant families especially women and children in detention, the issue regarding marriage of undocumented migrants and the reunification of families
Working ecumenically
– Promoting events for Migrant Communities:
Migrants Mass celebrated on the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker
Promoting and supporting the various pilgrimages of the immigrant communities to Aylesford and Walsingham.
Supporting and promoting specific celebrations for immigrant communities in dioceses for example the Feast of Santo Nino, Our Lady of Fatima, the Vietnamese Martyrs, El Dia de Las Americas (the day of the Americas).
Notes to Editors
• The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Council for Emigrants seeks to respond to the needs of Irish emigrants prior to and following departure. It is particularly committed to addressing the needs of our most vulnerable emigrants, especially the elderly Irish emigrant community, the undocumented Irish in the United States and Irish prisoners overseas. Working in conjunction with the host Church, our apostolates and sister organisations, the IECE seeks to respond to the needs of the Irish as an emigrant community. Bishop John Kirby is Chair of the Council. For more information see www.emigrants.ie
• The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Council for Immigrants develops and fosters initiatives for the pastoral care of immigrants among the dioceses and parishes of Ireland. The Council identifies immigrant communities within a local setting, recognises their needs and develops pastoral outreach strategies to engage with, support and integrate immigrant communities into dioceses and local parishes. Bishop Raymond Field is Chair of the Council. For more information see www.councilforimmigrants.ie.
• Photographs from this conference will be made available to media for publication. Please contact the Catholic Communications Office, Maynooth, on 00 353 (1) 505 3017 or Brenda Drumm on 00 353 (0) 87 310 4444.
• Audio recordings of the addresses from the three speakers will be made available on www.catholicbishops.ie.
ENDS
For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678 and Brenda Drumm 00353 (0) 87 310 4444
