2024 National Migration Week:
September 23-29
The Pope's Message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees
Dear brothers and sisters!
Last 29 October marked the conclusion of the First Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. This session allowed us to deepen our understanding of synodality as part of the Church’s fundamental vocation. “Synodality is mainly presented as a joint journey of the People of God and as a fruitful dialogue between the charisms and ministries at the service of the coming of the Kingdom” (Synthesis Report, Introduction).
Emphasizing the synodal dimension allows the Church to rediscover its itinerant nature, as the People of God journeying through history on pilgrimage, “migrating”, we could say, toward the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Lumen Gentium, 49)... Read More
Prayer from Pope Francis:
God, Almighty Father,
we are your pilgrim Church
journeying towards the Kingdom of heaven.
We live in our homeland,
but as if we were foreigners.
Every foreign place is our home,
yet every native land is foreign to us.
Though we live on earth,
our true citizenship is in heaven.
Do not let us become possessive
of the portion of the world
you have given us as a temporary home.
Help us to keep walking,
together with our migrant brothers and sisters,
toward the eternal dwelling you have prepared for us.
Open our eyes and our hearts
so that every encounter with those in need
becomes an encounter with Jesus, your Son and our Lord.
Amen.
Information from Justice for Immigrants
The World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) is an opportunity for global church and the Catholic faithful to engage in prayer, reflection, and action on behalf of our brothers and sisters who are forced to flee their homes. The theme for this year’s WDMR is God walks with his people, which “focuses on the itinerant dimension of the Church, with special attention to migrant brothers and sisters, who are a contemporary icon of the Church on the move.” National Migration Week is a uniquely US-based celebration that builds on the ideas put forth in WDMR and shaped accordingly to American public. In 2024 we will celebrate National Migration Week September 23-29, which culminates with WDMR that Sunday the 29th.
One lens through which we can understand the theme used for this year’s migration message and its importance for us as Catholics is through the idea of accompaniment... Learn more
