ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 31, 2023 / 16:30 pm
At a press conference held in the crypt of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Divine Savior of the World in El Salvador, where the remains of St. Óscar Arnulfo Romero are interred, Catholic bishops pledged to “defend the dignity and rights of all human beings regardless of their origin or immigration status.”
Meeting in El Salvador Aug. 21-25, representatives of the bishops’ conferences of Central America, Mexico, North America, and the Caribbean, accompanied by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, analyzed the various migratory scenarios at an international meeting.
“It pains us to see how so many people are victims of trafficking, abuse, and discrimination on their journey towards a better future and how the borders that should be places of encounter and fraternity are symbols of death and exclusion,” they said at the press conference.
The bishops called on the authorities for a joint regional effort to address the causes of forced migration and work to find sustainable solutions “so that each person is free to migrate or stay.”