The Archdiocese of Chicago to Observe National Migration Week, January 5 through January 11, 2020
Chicago, IL (December 30, 2019) – In observance of National Migration Week, the Archdiocese of Chicago will host an opening Mass on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020 at 5:15 p.m., at Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State Street, Chicago. Most Reverend Mark Bartosic, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, will preside over the multicultural Mass that celebrates Chicago’s diverse Catholic community.
“The start of National Migration Week coincides with the Feast of the Epiphany, reminding us that that the diversity of our Catholic community, made up many ethnicities and nationalities with different cultures, is a great gift and the source of our strong unity,” said Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago. “These days also highlight how the world’s refugees in our day experience the same struggles of the Holy Family, who had to flee violence and travel to a foreign land for safety. May our celebration of the Christ child open our hearts to welcome the stranger and those who seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for their families.”
This year’s National Migration Week theme is “Promoting a Church and World for All.” The Mass will highlight the ethnic diversity of the Archdiocese of Chicago through multilingual readings and music in languages such as English, Spanish, Polish, Swahili and Tagalog. The Mass will include a Spanish choir from St. Michael the Archangel Church (Chicago), a polish choir from Holy Trinity Church (Chicago) and a Tagalog choir from St. Martha Church (Morton Grove). Immigrants representing more than 30 countries will participate in the Mass wearing their traditional attire.
In his 2019 World Day of Migrants and Refugees message, the Holy Father calls on Catholics to welcome, protect, promote and integrate not only migrants and refugees but “to all those living in the existential peripheries.” He shares that “if we put those four verbs into practice, we will help build the city of God and man. We will promote the integral human development of all people. We will also help the world community to come closer to the goals of sustainable development that it has set for itself and that, lacking such an approach, will prove difficult to achieve.”
According to the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees annual Global Trends Report, released in June 2019, nearly 70.8 million people were displaced at the end of 2018. Some 13.6 million people were newly displaced during the course of the year. The number of new displacements was equivalent to an average of 37,000 people being forced to flee their homes every day in 2018.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) encourages Catholic communities to come together as a universal Church to welcome immigrants and refugees in local parishes, dioceses and broader communities. Nearly half a century ago, the USCCB launched National Migration Week to stand in solidarity with migrants and to pray for and act on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking.
For more information about National Migration Week activities, please visit https://pvm.archchicago.org/human-dignity-solidarity/immigration-ministry/national-migration-week.
