Perspectief 2017-36

2017-36 JT Chapter 1: Roman Catholic responses 11 Reageer wound” 28 and affirmed refugees’ rights as laid out in the 1951 Refugee Convention. These include the right to food, health care, education, work and housing. 29 A more concrete Catholic take on the refugee problem was laid out by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (PCPCMIP, established in 1988) and the Pontifical Council Cor Unum for Human and Christian Development (PCCU, established in 1971) in 1992 in the presentation Refugees: A Challenge for Solidarity . In this document the Catholic magisterium expressed criticism of the limited scope of the Geneva Convention and subsequent protocol, and pointed out that “many others whose human rights are equally disregarded” were not eligible to receive protection 30 . The critique made clear that the ecclesial notion of solidarity stretched out to all those in need, also to the persons that were at risk of falling outside of the margins of the U.N.’s definitions. The Holy See therefore suggested broader categories in order to include victims of natural disasters and harmful economic policies, thereby distinguishing between economic migrants and economic refugees. In particular in the first decade of the twenty-first century, under the leadership of Mons. Agostino Marchetto, the PCPCMIP took on a very critical stance over against political forces in Europe and abroad regarding their limited approach of the migration issue 31 . It has furthermore condemned the increasingly hostile attitude towards refugees in certain countries, a development that persists to this day. According to the abovementioned Pontifical Council economic crises, such as the one witnessed from 2008 onwards, cannot be used as an excuse to refuse entry to people who are fleeing for their lives. Furthermore, the Holy See decried the detention of asylum 28 Pope John Paul II (1987) ‘Sollicitudo Rei Socialis’ AAS 80: 513-586, art. 24. 29 For a detailed commentary on the contents of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, see Zimmermann, A. et al. (2011) The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 A Commentary Protocol: Oxford, OUP Oxford. 30 Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People & Pontifical Council Cor Unum for Human and Christian Development (1992) Refugees: A Challenge to Solidarity Vatican City, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, art. 3. 31 See also the recent book Marchetto, A. (2010) Chiesa e migranti. La mia battaglia per una sola famiglia umana. Intervista di Marco Roncalli , Brescia, Editrice La Scuola.