By Rani Punnaserril

New Delhi, August 8, 2020: Catholic dioceses in northern India plan to set up centers to help migrant laborers.

This was decided on August 7 during a virtual meeting organized by the Commission for Migrants under the Regional Bishops’ Council of the North (RBCN) in collaboration with its counterpart under the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ of India (CCBI).

The diocesan migrant resource centers along with helpline services to migrant workers will be prepared in collaboration with various CCBI commissions and coordinated by the conference’s secretariat based in Bengaluru.

The various commissions of CCBI will prepare a concept note on data collection, besides setting up the centers and launching helpline services to migrant workers.

The purpose of the center is to collect data on migrants and make its services accessible and available to them. The concept note prepared at the online meeting has specified the quality of the data.

The main focus of the center is to enroll migrant workers, who are called guests in some states, in the Church programs.

Other plans include engaging the migrants into mainstream society and encourage them to join the Church’s spiritual and welfare programs. It will also link them with the Church’s educational and healthcare institutions that would accommodate and serve the migrants.

The migrant commission is to network with dioceses, religious congregations, lay associations and government for an integrated approach.

“Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to think globally and act locally. The pandemic has not still lost its foothold in India. It is a global as well as local crisis,” said Archbishop Anil J T Couto of Delhi, who chaired the webinar.

The commission for migrants was set up after seeing the plight of the migrants, refugees and internally displaced people. The Church realized the urgency to collaborating with other commissions to better its service to the workers, students, professionals and internally displaced persons who have migrated to the cities, added Archbishop Couto.

Along with the commission for migrants, Youth and SCC Commissions shared the virtual platform to strengthen the efforts taken by each commission.

The target group is indeed a large population but they need the church’s assistance. The commission’s focus on the different groups has to be dealt with at different levels,”

“Pandemic made us realize that we are able to share our resources with these poor masses. It is possible to pool the resources together to meet the immediate need during the crisis period,” said Archbishop Couto.

The prelate reiterated the words of Pope Francis on the shared responsibility to welcome, protect, promote and integrate the migrants into the church’s pastoral ministry.

Bishop Ignatius Mascarenhas of Simla–Chandigarh expressed his happiness over the pastoral care rendered to the migrants in the villages and cities.

The bishop addressed the economic crisis the migrant population is facing in all the places. His diocese is collaborating with the government for social welfare schemes allocated for them.

Participants agreed that collecting data is a herculean task but it has to be undertaken if the Church wants to help the migrants.

The online meeting noted that Delhi has more than 12,000 students from northeastern India.

“These migrant students and other tribal students need our attention,” the meeting noted.

The webinar participants included CCBI deputy secretary general Father Stephen Alathara, Father Jaison Vadassery, executive secretary of CCBI Commission for Migrants, Father Chetan Machado, secretary of the Commission for Youth, Father George Jacob of the Commission for Small Christian Communities and the Diocesan Secretaries of Commission for migrants.

Others were Fathers William Sahota of Jalandhar diocese, James Gin of Simla–Chandigarh, Premful of Jammu and Kashmir and Bethany Sister Preeti of Delhi archdiocese.