“The Church has long seen the migration experience as involving dramatic change in migrants’ lives, while possibly enriching them,” the Italian priest told UCA News as the Sixth World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees got under way at the Vatican.

“If the migrant is made to feel comfortable and accepted, then all of his needs should be taken care of, including his spiritual needs,” said the priest who is also vice president of the NGO, Philippine Migrant Rights Watch.

Father Baggio came to the Philippines in 2002 after working with migrants in Chile and Argentina for eight years, and is heavily involved in formation programs for pastoral workers.

The development of such programs since the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People’s instruction released its 2004 document, “Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi” (“The Love of Christ toward Migrants”), reflects changes in society and the Church, the priest says.

“In the 1990s, migration took a new turn when people were on the move for economic reasons,” he said. “The Church response since then has been to address the situation not only by looking at it with a historical eye but addressing [it] from a theological perspective.”

He noted that slowly some governments began to see a positive side to migration –- that migrants were aiding the development of the countries they come from as well as the countries that receive them.

“Migrants are needed in industrialized countries if progress is to be maintained,” Father Baggio said. “So governments need to understand they should not have restrictive immigration policies.”

Father Baggio’s SMC, located near Manila, helps bishops and parish priests in their work with migrant workers and families. SMC also works with the Episcopal Commission for Pastoral Care for Migrants and Itinerant People.

Their Exodus Program is an intensive one-week live in course for pastoral workers serving migrants. According to the priest, apart from Filipinos who make up most of the program participants, Japanese, Koreans, Malaysians and Vietnamese also attend the course.

Currently, SMC has three programs on migration theology at the Loyola School of Theology at the Ateneo de Manila -- a certificate course for one semester, a master’s degree on Migration Theology and an ecclesiastical licentiate degree recognized by the pontifical universities.

These courses are the only ones offered in the English speaking world, says Father Baggio.

The greatest challenge to the Church is to safeguard migrants’ interests, he asserts. “We must protect the human rights of our migrants no matter who they are and what religion they belong to. This is the Church’s responsibility to all men and women.”

Responses to terrorism also present unique challenges.

“The Church in the West must help guarantee the human rights of Arabs. There is still some lack of trust of Islamic people. We can understand the wounds on both sides but to say we understand does not mean we can leave it where it is.”

He admits that there are limits to what can be done in some places.

“Where the local Church struggles to exist, it cannot offer much to migrants. However, there are cases where migrant workers have been a help to the local struggling communities.

“Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have opened up to the Church and recognized her because of the large influx of Catholic workers into these countries.

“They saw Catholic migrants ... posed no threat to the local culture so they opened space for them.”