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"Welcoming the Stranger": a Dialogue Between Scriptural Understandings of and Catholic Church Policies Towards Migrant

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The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2009 "Welcoming the Stranger": A dialogue between Scriptural understandings of and Catholic Church policies towards migrants and refugees and pastoral praxis in the migrant and refugee pastoral care bodies within the Archdiocese of Perth Judith M. Woodward University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Religion Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Woodward, J. M. (2009). "Welcoming the Stranger": A dialogue between Scriptural understandings of and Catholic Church policies towards migrants and refugees and pastoral praxis in the migrant and refugee pastoral care bodies within the Archdiocese of Perth (Doctor of Pastoral Theology (PThD)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/44 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract Growth in human movement around the world has been one of the phenomenal aspects of globalization since the Second World War. Among these ‘people on the move’ those whom the United Nations Humanitarian Commission for Refugees has described as ‘persons of concern’ – refugees, displaced persons etc. – have increased at an alarming rate. They are now well in excess of the global population growth rate over the same period Many of these have moved into adjacent poorer developing countries but increasingly many are seeking asylum, either through official United Nations’ channels or through on-shore arrivals, in developing nations. This poses serious issues for national governments and societies in relation to national boundaries, citizenship criteria and the religious-ethnic compositions of their populations. Among the global institutions which are concerned with this phenomenon of ‘people on the move’ are the Christian Churches, especially the Catholic Church, at universal, national and regional levels. As the largest global Christian institution and with representation at the United Nations, the Catholic Church is primarily concerned with the human dignity of these people on the move and the special care they deserve as they penetrate their new societies and reconfigure their new settlements and their ethnic compositions. Such concern spills over into an ontological exploration of ‘the stranger’ in the context of Hebrew and Christian Scriptures and how migrants and refugees in the form of these new arrivals, many of whom are non-Catholic and non-Christian, are i leading to a ‘new catholicity’ which is ecumenical and dialogical. Given this scenario, this thesis makes use of the methodology of practical theology to explore the Scriptural bases for the Church’s imperative to reach out to ‘the stranger’, the sojourner, the alien in our midst; to examine the Church’s teaching on the migrant and the refugee; and, finally, to place these teachings in dialogical relationship with the empirical practice of agencies within one particular region of the Australian Church – the Archdiocese of Perth in Western Australia. By so doing, it demonstrates how an ongoing dialogue between ‘theory’ in the form of Church teaching and ‘praxis’ in the form of empirical practice and reflection on that practice can lead to new and more innovative interaction between the two. It also shows how, ultimately, this can give rise to a deeper and Christologically-based relationship between ‘the stranger in our midst’ and the Church’s faithful, especially those who extend care to the ‘stranger’. Because it is not confined only to Catholic migrants and refugees in its study, it also shows how the many- facetted ‘other’ entering our society displays to us the many faces of the one God we worship and enables us to extend our awarenesses of ourselves as Christian and Catholic as we attempt to cater for the spiritual and pastoral needs of the migrant and refugee. ii Declaration of Authorship This thesis is the candidate’s own work and contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any degree or diploma in this or any other institution. To the best of the candidate’s knowledge, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text. _______________________________ ________________ iii Acknowledgements My deepest gratitude is extended to my supervisor, Reverend Professor Peter Black, without whose unfailing patience and wise guidance I could never have completed this thesis. I would also like to express my warm thanks to all those who generously shared with me their knowledge and insights. Such people include personnel from the six agencies for migrant/refugee pastoral care in the Archdiocese of Perth as well as other people interviewed. Special thanks should go to Dr Glenn Morrison, Fr Anthony Paganoni CS and Sr Anne Tormey RSM who, during the period of my candidature, provided pertinent advice. I also wish to thank the Research Committee of University of Notre Dame for its facilitation of this thesis and also the School of Philosophy and Theology which provided me with support, a ground-floor office, photocopying and other facilities. Finally, heartfelt appreciation to Anne O’Ryan and Sr Anne Tormey who acted as proof-readers. iv Abbreviations ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACBC Australian Catholic Bishops’ Council ACBCPL Australian Catholic Bishops’ Commission for Pastoral Life ACMRO Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office ACSJC Australian Catholic Social Justice Council ASeTTs Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors Blackwell Reader The Blackwell Reader in Pastoral and Practical Theology CARAD Coalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees Catechism Catechism of the Catholic Church CMC Catholic Migrant Centre CMS (Centrecare) Catholic Migrant Services Compendium Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church DIAC (Federal) Department of Immigration and Citizenship ERCJCE Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education ERCM Edmund Rice Centre Mirrabooka Erga migrantes Erga migrantes caritas Christi HarperCollins The HarperCollins Study Bible IEC (Aranmore College) Intensive English Centre IHSS Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy MA Multicultural Apostolate MHHC Mercy House of Hospitality Carlisle v MRC (St Vincent de Paul) Migrant Refugee Committee New Jerome The New Jerome Biblical Commentary PCPCMIP Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People Refugees Refugees: A Challenge to Solidarity TPV Temporary Protection Visa UN United Nations UNHCR United Nations Humanitarian Commission for Refugees vi Contents Abstract i Declaration of Authorship iii Acknowledgements iv Abbreviations v Contents vii Introduction 1 I What, Why and How? Research questions 10 Definitions of essential terms 15 Practice 15 Migrants and refugees 17 Rights and obligations of and toward migrants and refugees 20 Pastoral care 22 Methodology 25 The methodology of contextual theology 25 The methodology of practical theology 28 Qualitative methodology 33 The methodology of oral history 36 The methodology of dialogue 39 Structure of the dissertation 40 II The Alien, the Sojourner and the Stranger in Hebrew and Christian Scripture Introduction 42 Hebrew Scripture, the alien and the stranger 45 Responses to the stranger in Hebrew Scripture 45 Migration as a key metaphor in Hebrew Scripture 52 Hospitality as an integral element in the treatment of Israelite religious and national identity in Hebrew Scripture 57 The stranger in Christian Scripture 61 Jesus as the ‘archetypal stranger’ 62 Jesus as a benchmark of behaviour 62 Jesus’ identity as the Son of God 63 Jesus as a wanderer, refugee and outcast 64 Jesus and hospitality to the stranger 66 Jesus as the ‘supreme host’ 66 The host as servant 72 Hospitality to the stranger and the developing identity of early Christianity 74 The mission of the early Christians – perceptions, implications and nature 75 Hospitality to the stranger verus the stranger as enemy and threat 77 Implications for a developing Christian identity 78 Conclusion 81 vii III Social Justice Foundations for a Study of Pastoral Care to Migrants and Refugees Introduction 84 Dignity of the human person, social justice and equity 87 The concept of ‘human dignity’ 87 The concept of ‘integral development’ 89 The principles of ‘solidarity’ and the option for the poor 91 The principle of the ‘common good’ 93 Human rights and duties 96 The right to religious freedom 103 Social doctrine and inculturation of the faith 107 The Church’s recognition of the centrality of culture to human dignity 108 Inculturation of faith and evangelization 110 Religious pluralism and inculturation 114 Conclusion 116 IV Rights and Responsibilities of the Universal Church Toward Migrants and Refugees Introduction 117 Historical survey of documentation 118 Questions of definition 124 The specific rights of migrants and refugees and the responsibilities of the Church and the host society toward them 128 Inalienable rights of the migrant and refugee 128 Rights of emigration, non-migration and non-refoulement
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