{"id":95523,"date":"2023-09-10T12:52:08","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T10:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cgfmanet.org\/infosphere\/giornata-mondiale-del-migrante-e-del-rifugiato-2023\/"},"modified":"2023-09-11T12:27:56","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T10:27:56","slug":"world-day-of-migrants-and-refugees-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cgfmanet.org\/en\/infosphere\/world-day-of-migrants-and-refugees-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rome (Italy<\/strong>) On 24 September 2023, on the last Sunday of September, the 109th<\/sup> World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR)<\/strong> is celebrated, established by the Church in 1914 to bring the reality of migrants and refugees to the attention and prayer of ecclesial and civil communities. It is an opportunity to demonstrate closeness to vulnerable people on the move, to pray for them as they face many challenges, and to raise awareness of the opportunities offered by migration.<\/p>\n

\u201cFree to choose whether to migrate or to stay\u201d<\/strong> is the theme of the Message<\/a><\/strong><\/span> for the Day 2023, in which the Holy Father highlights a reflection on the right, not yet codified at an international level, to be able to remain in one’s own land and not necessarily have to migrate:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flight of the Holy Family into Egypt was not the result of a free choice, just as many of the migrations that marked the history of the people of Israel were not. Migrating should always be a free choice, but in fact in many cases, even today, it is not. Conflicts, natural disasters, or more simply the impossibility of living a dignified and prosperous life in one’s homeland force millions of people to leave.”<\/em><\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the Message, Pope Francis asks God the Father in <\/strong>prayer<\/strong> for the grace of commitment and the courage to fight to alleviate these situations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 give us the grace to work hard for justice, solidarity, and peace, so that all Your children are guaranteed the freedom to choose whether to migrate or to stay. Give us the courage to denounce all the horrors of our world, to fight against every injustice that disfigures the beauty of Your creatures and the harmony of our common home. Support us with the strength of Your Spirit, so that we can show Your tenderness to every migrant You place on our path and spread the culture of encounter and care in hearts and in every environment.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The intention for the month of September<\/strong>, released in the video of the Pope’s World Prayer Network, ‘It’s not just about migrants. It is about charity,\u2019 is also in consonance with the theme, as the Pope invites us to pray for people who live on the margins of society<\/strong> and promote acceptance by societies:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is at stake is the face we want to give ourselves as a society and the value of every life. (\u2026) we cannot forget that the progress of our peoples cannot be measured only by technological or economic development. It depends above all on the ability to let oneself be touched and moved by those who knock on the door and with their gaze discredit and disempower all the false idols that mortgage and enslave life; idols that promise an illusory and ephemeral happiness built on the margins of reality and the suffering of others”.<\/em><\/p>\n