Immigration and the local churches

A consultation organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Conference of the Churches of all of Africa (CCAA), the Evangelical Community for Apostolic Action (CEVAA), the Commission of Churches on Migration in Europe (CCME) and the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI) was held in Palermo on "Immigration and the changing ecclesiastical landscape". The purpose of the consultation was to analyse the experiences that are taking place and therefore the search for an actual strategy for integration among "national" and "immigrated" Protestants in the European context: a study that implies also a profound examination of the political strategies in Europe for the integration and social inclusion of immigrants.

The consultation offered a chance to reflect, with the collaboration of leaders of the African churches, on the future of the communities of Protestant immigrants coming from Africa. "Thanks to immigration our churches are growing while in Africa they are emptying – stated Annemarie Duprè of Being church together. - This is a knot that we must unravel in a prospective of fraternal ecumenism and commitment together for justice and the rights of those who migrate. As for Italian Protestants, the international debate helps us understand how to develop strategies of integration and of communion with brothers and sisters who, along with their culture and their work, offer us their theology and their spirituality".

From press service NEV - Notizie evangeliche, 30 November 2008