Italy

The growing presence in Italy of people originating from all parts of the world, strongly underlines the necessity and significance of a ministerial presence among migrants, such as that offered by the Scalabrinian Missionary Sisters - MSCS, who, by vocation, share their lives with migrants. The MSCS Sisters, already present in Italy, together with the young women in formation, are of various nationalities: Italian, Brazilian, Portuguese, Albanian, Congolese, Filipino, Eritrean, and Sri Lankan, and are distributed among eleven communities, situated in Lombardia, Emilia Romagna, Lazio and Calabria. Young and old, living in community and in places where migrants live, present in the Church and in Society, themselves native Italians or immigrants, the MSCS Sisters live and promote intercultural exchange by living with simplicity in the historical moment in which they find themselves.

The mission which they live puts the Sisters in the position of rendering service to the sacredness of life, caring for the deepening of faith, witnessing to God's love for all, proclaiming Jesus Christ, studying, and living the strain of everyday life together. The concrete forms of service are motivated by the needs of the migrants themselves and by the situations in which each MSCS Sister or community are found. Their vitality is taken from their vocation which is lived with creativity and from the relations created by the personal, social and apostolic nets shared with others; from the needs held by someone else and from a trustworthy abandonment into the hands of the Lord who provides. The MSCS Sisters present in Italy are dedicated to study, to service within the Congregation and to the social-pastoral care of migrants in local churches.

With regards to migration, Italy, which for a century has seen a constant flow of emigration of Italians, of which there are 60,000,000 descendants living throughout the world, has noticed in the last decade a steady movement in the opposite direction. The new arrivals in Italy from abroad, are not only composed of Italian emigrants who are returning, but more significantly, of foreigners, who today have reached around 3% of the population. The majority of the emigrant population is formed by economic migrants and their families. A significant percentage of the foreign presence in Italy is due to the mass arrival of refugees provoked by the recent military conflict in near Eastern Europe. These migrations of people offer the MSCS Sisters present in Italy the possibility of living their personal and vocational history as living witnesses to God's love for all His children on the move.

France
 
Whether among Italian, Portuguese, or Magrebians, or among those who come from Africa of the Great Lakes region or from Eastern Europe, or among French citizens who come from different nationalities and ethnic groups, the Scalabrinian Missionary Sisters - MSCS - present in France are witnesses and workers in the pastoral care and special needs education of these migrant peoples. The sisters' dedicated service has created a sense of solidarity with these people, and with their faith, that dedicated service extends to care of the sick, of families, of young people, of children and of the aged. They live in Marseille, Seremange and Villiers Sur Marne. They offer their missionary service in different locales according to the necessities or demands of the migrants and according to that which the MSCS Sisters and local Church consider important for the good of Neighbor. The Sisters are Italian, Brazilian, Congolese and Ethiopian, and live together in community in the neighborhoods and places where migrants live.

Their ministry of action extends through networks with other ecclesial workers and dedicated laity, all caring for the life of each man and woman who finds him or herself as an immigrant in France. Inserted in the local Church, the MSCS Sisters try to serve, listen to, and to welcome the migrants. They cooperate with people, institutions and associations, in respecting cultures and making migrants aware of migration themes; they work and reflect in teams which in turn promotes ecumenism and interreligious dialogue; and they pay attention to institutional and interpersonal relationships by creating constructive relations of unity among volunteers and with all who may be involved in the migration phenomenon.

There are 4,310,000 immigrants in France, who represent 7.4% of the population (census 1999). Comparing this data with that of the Census of 1990, one may note that:

1. The number of immigrants born in European countries is decreasing:

• 1,600,000 immigrants from the European Union (570,000 Portuguese, 380,000 Italians, 310,000 Spanish...);
• 300,000 from countries outside of the European Union.

2. The number of people originating from Magreb increases:

• 1,300,000 immigrants of which 580,000 Algerians, 500,000 Moroccans, and 200,000 Tunisians.

3. People originating from the other parts of the world increase in number and in proportion to the immigrant population:

• 1,100,000 immigrants (175,000 Turks, 385,000 Asians, 400,000 Africans).

Albania

We are present in Albania with 6 Scalabrinian Missionary Sisters - MSCS -, 2 of which are Albanian and 4 are Italian. Three Albanian novices, who are preparing for their religious profession also live with us.

Our presence in Albania is at the service of evangelization, of pastoral care and of development, with particular attention paid to women, to youth and to children. We are dedicated to Christian and human education of children, teenagers and young adults. We also dedicate ourselves to formation and counselling, to social and welfare service in the health sector, towards all people.

Our community is situated in Juban-Gurri zi, Skoder. As MSCS Sisters, we are also dedicated to Albanian emigrants abroad, especially in Italy, in Greece and in England. We offer hospitality and support to the families who live the drama of the migration of children and of husbands, and offer accompanying to the families which live the suffering of being clandestine in foreign land. The community is attentive to the migrants when they return and send them the Diocesan Newsletter "Fjala e paqes" as an instrument of communication and of bond with one's homeland, family and faith.
 
Albania has a total of 3 million habitants. In the region in which we live, a 1/3 of the families have emigrated and 3/4 of the families have members in foreign land. The precarious social-economic situation, a consequence of 47 years of communism, united to the democracy's weakness, doesn't help stimulate the country's population to establish itself and to invest in its homeland. Still now, they are often forced to emigrate. Emigration at this moment is the only strategy in order to find better living conditions. The young emigrate because there is no future, there is no work, they don't have the courage for initiative.

Whilst on the one hand, the Albanian migration is still a phenomenon of mass escape, and often clandestine escape, on the other hand criminality brings back to Albania a bad image of Albanians in the world. This coincides with the rise of the arrival in Albania of foreigners sent as missionaries or in large measures as agents dedicated to proselytism sect.
 

Poland

The Scalabrinian Missionary Sisters - MSCS - have been in Poland since June of 1995, with the intent of starting missionary service among immigrants who live in the area. The only community of MSCS Sisters in Poland, is in Wroclaw, and consists of a Brazilian, a Portuguese and an Albanian Sister.

They live their missionary vocation of love and dedication to neighbour, more by daily actions, than with explicit proclamations, with simplicity; striving as they do to live a life of joy, by following Jesus Christ in everyday life. In addition to their daily service and care of migrants, refugees, and the poorest most in need, they continue their study of the Polish language and culture. They progressively have become a part of the local milieu, in particular with the formation and the guidance of young women in vocational discernment.

One of the MSCS sisters is director of the migrants and refugees bureau of the Diocesan Caritas of Wroclaw. The Sisters strive to serve all migrants and refugees, without making ethnic or religious distinction. They offer various services, especially acceptance and an available ear. They educate migrants and refugees, on current laws in force as they relate to their situation, direct them in how to go about obtaining residency permits, and they accompany them in their process of integration into their local communities. The MSCS sisters also play an important role in times of emergency, such as recently, for example, with the assistance and coordination of camps for refugees from Kosovo, who were cared for near Wroclaw for three months in 1999. The Sisters are also dedicated to raising the consciousness of the public and local church to the reality of migration, by coordinating services offered to migrants in cooperation with international (i.e. NGOs), national and local public bodies. In so doing, they weave nets of support to "God's children in mobility".

The reality of migration in Poland is still relatively unknown to many. Poland has adhered to the Geneva convention since 1991, and from this date, have accepted refuges slowly but steadily. Today there are roughly 1000 refugees, coming from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Byelorussia, the Sudan, Armenia, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It is difficult to find statistics on economic migrants, but a significant part of these immigrants are from the neighbouring countries, especially from the Ukraine, Lithuania and Byelorussia; many also come from the ex-Soviet Union. In addition to these, there is a movement of return migration, especially of repatriating Poles from Siberia and Kazakhstan. Even if the tendency is changing, Poland, however, still remains a "corridor country", with the majority of migrants staying on Polish territory only long enough to rest and recuperate, before continuing on to other European countries, especially Germany.
 

Germany

We are known by many as "Sisters on the move", and we can recognise this as true. In fact, we seek to effectively be "migrants with migrants". Therefore our style of life is determined by them; it is characterised by temporariness, flexibility, diversity and hospitality.

Respect for alterity starts within our religious communities. We, Scalabrinian Missionary Sisters - MSCS - in Germany, live among the people with four little communities, which consist of Italian Sisters from different regions and Brazilian Sisters of different origins. This plurality within our community life enables us to appreciate the religious, cultural, social and ethnic diversity of others.

We are present in three diocese: Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Köln and Essen. In our pastoral work we carry out our service among the migrants, characterised by a twofold tension: on the one hand, appreciate and preserve the culture of origin and its close relation to the experience of faith; on the other hand, in the reality of history, we pay attention to knocking down the barriers of opposition and division.

Our daily pastoral work takes place in the Italian Catholic Mission, with the elderly, families, women, young people and children, in a variety of activities: human and religious formation, preparation to receive the sacraments, liturgy, festive moments, co-ordination, visiting the sick, relations with the local German Church, social work, and other activities according to various needs. Our task as missionaries within this context, in a strongly secularised society, is that of evangelization.

The migration reality in Germany is very complex. The old migrations from Eastern Europe, especially from Poland, immediately after the War were followed by immigration from Western Europe: Portuguese, Spanish, Italian. The Greek, Turks and Yugoslav also arrived. Lately, after the "fall of the Berlin wall", the migration movements developed mainly with flows from East-European countries, with a significant openness towards refugees. In Germany one may also note an increase in immigration from Africa, Asia and Latin America. This makes Germany one of the most lively and strongest poles of migration in Europe and in the world. Old and new migrations live their own culture in a form which is almost independent one from another and from German society.
 

Portugal

During the centuries Portugal has seen a significant flow of migration of its population. In recent years, with the end of the colonial period, there has been an increase in migration movements in Portugal. Many Portuguese have emigrated to other European countries, especially toward France, Switzerland and Germany, but there has also been a movement of immigration. Many migrants have arrived from the ex Portuguese colonies, pushed out by the social-economical crisis which occurred after the colonisation ceased, and sometimes the cause of wars, some of which are still taking place.

The Scalabrinian Missionary Sisters -MSCS- are also present in this reality. They seek to safeguard the migrants' faith, and that of their families, sharing the sentiments, anxieties, dreams, efforts and nostalgia which all accompany each migrant. In 1982 the MSCS Sisters opened their first mission in Portugal. At present there are three communities, composed of Brazilian and Italian Sisters, in Fatima, Amora and Cova da Piedade. The MSCS Sister draws her strength from the Eucharist, from the Word of God and from the faithful fulfilment of the mission entrusted to her by the Church.

Within the local realities where the MSCS Sisters live and work, they prove to be a humble presence, favouring communion, sharing and catholicity. They carry out pastoral work among the young; they are present among the children at school, in the orphanage and during the liturgy; they are among the families, visiting their homes, organising meetings and cooperating in parish life. The Sisters are also dedicated to offering hospitality to pilgrims and to supporting the formation and providing restful holidays for other MSCS Sisters who pass through Portugal. They give particular attention to the awakening of opinion to migration matters. This activity of sensitisation, on the one hand consists in forming a culture of hospitality and on the other, in helping to awaken the responsibility of each person towards migrants, in order to participate in defending the life and dignity of the migrants - of both, Portuguese emigrants abroad and immigrants of other nationalities present in Portugal.
 

Switzerland

Switzerland is characterized today by the persistent arrival of immigrants of different nationalities. This joining of a multitude of colors, cultures and religions, present in the country, also describes the character of the four houses in which the Scalabrinian Missionary Sisters - MSCS - live and work. Multiculturalism and pluralism are appreciated, respected, cultivated and practiced in their nursery schools in Luzern, Allschwill-BL, St. Gallen and Winterthur, frequented as they are by children of a variety of nationalities.

The twelve sisters are primarily dedicated to the education of children, but are also active in the pastoral sector, giving spiritual and human support to families and the sick who live in the Italian Catholic Mission's precincts. The sisters' presence proves to be important and significant for the migrants, with whom they share their faith, work and life. In St. Gallen they also give hospitality and support to foreigners who are present in the city or in nearby areas on a temporary basis for special medical care.

In the Helvetica Confederation, on the 31st of August 2000, statistics registered the presence of 1,379,800 people with a foreign passport, that is 19.3% of the entire population. In some towns the percentages reached 40%. From the 1st of September 1999, to the 31st of August 2000, 87,793 foreigners migrated to Switzerland. Switzerland is a country which, coming only after Luxembourg, hosts the highest percentage of immigrants.

Other than working in Winterthur, in the canton of Zurich, where 258,849 foreigners reside, the MSCS are also present in the canton of St. Gallen (87,140 foreigners), in the canton of Luzern (51,246 foreigners) and in the canton of Basel (42,953 immigrants). In all four of these cantons, a rise in the immigrant population has been registered.

The largest group of foreigners is that of Italians (323,187), followed by Portuguese and Spaniards. There has also been a rise in the number of immigrants coming from the ex-Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, from Turkey, and from South and Central America.
 

Spain

  We, the Missionary Sisters of São Carlos Borromeo-Scalabrinianas started our mission in Spain on the 23rd of September 2003, under the supervision of the Province Cristo Rei, based in Porto Alegre – RS (Rio Grande do Sul), Brazil, and also being the Province of support to the Province São José, based in Piacenza – Italy.

Our Scalabrinian apostolic-missionary presence, in Spain, is located in the Dioceses of Sigüenza – Guadalajara, 50 km distant from Madrid, capital of the country. Guadalajara counts today with 80.000 inhabitants, among these, there are 7.266 immigrants, who have documents, or this means that these immigrants according the cases have a residence and work permit. The majority are Latin Americans, Africans – overall from Morocco and other eastern European countries. Beyond the immigrants living in regular situation, Guadalajara also welcomes a lot of immigrants who are registered but don’t have documents and a lot of others who are not registered, we have an estimation about a total of 11 – 14 thousand migrants. The previsions indicate that in Guadalajara, the population will double until 2010, principally as a consequence of immigration.

S. Norma Kleinubing, the first indicated missionary to this mission has been indicated by the Bishop of the Dioceses of Siguenza, Monseigneur José Sánchez, “Director of the Diocesan Delegation of Migrations” with the task of giving attention to the pastoral migration, giving particular attention and priority to the spiritual religious-ecclesiastic aspects of the immigrants. The work that has been programmed is going to have an action by network that has to involve the entire Church and the population who are immigrants, having priority on three topics: awareness raising, ‘ad gentes’ formation and the pastoral action and capillary missionary of re-evangelisation through the parishes, among the autochthonous population and the immigrants, and the other way round.

In front of such a great missionary challenge “I listen, see and I ask myself: What can we do? Where can we start so that the Church may succeed to approach more to the immigrants and they may find the way to live their faith and values in their Church in a foreign land ? (S. Norma Kleinubing, mscs)

We are invited to participate in this mission through the support and prayer. Interceding to the Father, through Jesus Christ – Way, Truth and Life -, so that he may illuminate the way to follow and may give unresting wisdom, strength, science and love to the missionaries who are intended to this mission in order that they can be the expression of his love together with his daughters and sons being immigrants