Perspectief 2017-36

2017-36 JT Chapter 1: Roman Catholic responses 19 Reageer conciliar decree Dignitatis Humanae 61 reflects, each human being is made in the image of God, bestowing upon him an inviolable dignity. The Imago Dei counters the dehumanisation that characterises the lives of refugees, who are frequently faced with poverty and societal exclusion. Inspired by God’s limitlessly high regard of human life the Catholic Church has, in its social teaching, made explicit the right of people to migrate if their basic human rights are violated in their home country. 62 This right to move in order to protect one’s inherent dignity surpasses the right of states to protect their borders. 63 The belief that God chose to become incarnate in a vulnerable human being who would himself flee political persecution with his family cannot be without significance according to Groody. The Word of God could have taken on any human form, yet it was the life of a refugee, an outcast that he adopted. Groody notes that this does not mean God regards poverty and forced migration as something good, “but because it is precisely in history’s darkest place that God can reveal hope to all who experience pain, rejection, and alienation.” By becoming a refugee himself, God “not only reaches out to the stranger but becomes the stranger.” 64 The Image of God as present in each human and the Word of God as incarnated in Christ meet in the Missio Dei . On numerous occasions in the Gospel Jesus shares meals with the outcasts of his time, thereby overcoming conventional barriers between (groups of) people. Christ’s actions make clear that human borders are subservient to the unity of the Kingdom of God that he intends to bring about on Earth. Instead of prioritising loyalty to a specific political party or ideology, which makes possible the exclusion of certain people, Christ made clear that the “law of love” 65 is to be obeyed above all else. While he did not 61 Pope Paul VI (1965) ‘Dignitatis Humanae’ AAS 58: 929-941. See also Kartje, J. (2010) Religious Freedom and the Human Person. Old Testament Perspectives on Dignitatis Humanae Chicago Studies 49: 243-307. 62 Pope John XXIII (1963) ‘Pacem in Terris’, art. 103-107. 63 Sacred Congregation for Bishops (1969) ‘Instructio de Pastorali Migratorum Cura’, art. 351. 64 Groody (2009) Crossing the Divide , p. 650. 65 ibid. 654.