My dear parishioners,
Peace! On the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, 7 October, 2019, Pope Francis established the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, to be observed each year on the 10th of December. At the same time Pope Francis proclaimed a Lauretan Jubilee Holy Year to run from 8 December, 2019 through 10 December, 2020. There are fifty-five invocations in the Litany of Loreto. The following is a reflection on the fifty-fifth invocation: Solace of Migrants, pray for us.
Pope Francis (b. 1936) has added three new invocations to the Litany in 2020: Mater Misericordiae, Mater Spei, Solacium migrantium.
The Latin solacium is translated into English variously: solace, comfort, relief, soothing, assuaging. Some translations of Isaiah 54:11 include a reference to “solace” but the Douay-Rheims uses “comfort.”
Saint John XXIII (+1963) in his encyclical Pacem in Terris (11 April, 1963), 25, taught that there is a: “Right to Emigrate and Immigrate. Again, every human being has the right to freedom of movement and of residence within the confines of his own State. When there are just reasons in favor of it, he must be permitted to emigrate to other countries and take up residence there. The fact that he is a citizen of a particular State does not deprive him of membership in the human family, nor of citizenship in that universal society, the common, world-wide fellowship of men.” Saint Paul VI (+1978) in his encyclical Populorum Progressio (26 March, 1967), 69, recognizes difficulties faced by emigrants. Saint John Paul II (+2005) in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (2 April, 2004), 297-298, taught that “Immigration can be a resource for development rather than an obstacle to it.” “These people come from less privileged areas of the earth and their arrival in developed countries is often perceived as a threat to the high levels of well-being achieved thanks to decades of economic growth. In most cases, however, immigrants fill a labour need which would otherwise remain unfilled in sectors and territories where the local workforce is insufficient or unwilling to engage in the work in question. Institutions in host countries must keep careful watch to prevent the spread of the temptation to exploit foreign labourers, denying them the same rights enjoyed by nationals, rights that are to be guaranteed to all without discrimination. Regulating immigration according to criteria of equity and balance is one of the indispensable conditions for ensuring that immigrants are integrated into society with the guarantees required by recognition of their human dignity. Immigrants are to be received as persons and helped, together with their families, to become a part of societal life. In this context, the right of reuniting families should be respected and promoted. At the same time, conditions that foster increased work opportunities in people’s place of origin are to be promoted as much as possible.”
Abraham, Our Lady, Saint Joseph and the Lord Jesus Himself were all migrants (cf. Genesis 12:1; Matthew 2:13-23).
Father John Arthur Orr