The president of the bishops’ conferences in the European Union (EU) has said that increasing fear and hostility towards immigrants is a sign Europe has lost a sense of what it stands for.
With assisted suicide spreading across the continent and belief in God continuing on the wane, Bishop Mariano Crociata of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno in Italy, president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), spoke to Crux Now in a wide-ranging interview.
He said Europe is in danger of losing its values not because of migrants but because of its own citizens.
“People of different cultural and religious backgrounds should be welcomed and integrated into an environment and social context where they can learn to live together in mutual respect,” he said.
“However, if we ourselves do not know who we are, ignore our identity and fail to protect what truly matters and what gives meaning to our shared civic life, there will be no need for others to take away the values upon which we are founded, because we will be abandoning them ourselves,” Crociata also said.
Crociata said the values integral to Europe and in need of defense include the “sense of the dignity of every human being” which forms the “the foundation of civilized coexistence” and “freedom, equality and solidarity, as well as democracy and the rule of law.”
He said he is convinced that the “deepest and most decisive changes taking place in our Western societies are not those brought about by the presence of immigrants and foreigners.”
Instead, Crociata argued that “what will shape our societies most profoundly is the way in which we ourselves have chosen, and continue to choose, our way of life, how we live together and the future we wish to build.”
“The fear of the other is a sign of weakness with regard to ourselves,” he said.
Crociata was speaking to Crux Now following new EU migrant regulations that were approved during the summer, which include longer detentions for migrants and fast-track deportations.
Crociata was critical of the legislation at the time and repeated that he was concerned about “the way migrants and refugees might be treated, the lack of respect for their dignity upon arrival, but also cases of pushbacks and transfers that have the character of deportations.
“We have said this many times over the years, but we will never tire of repeating it: we are talking about people, not numbers,” he said, also adding that “discernment and a careful assessment of the situation of those arriving are necessary.”
Please find the transcript of Crux Now‘s interview with Bishop Mariano Crociata, below…
Crux Now: In your statement following the announcement of the new EU regulations you talked about honouring Europe’s founding values. What are they? Why are they important?
Bishop Mariano Crociata: The founding values of the European Union are such not only because they were proclaimed and shared by the generation that gave birth to the European Community, but also because they have been recognized and codified in the documents adopted and endorsed by the countries that today make up the EU, namely the Treaty on European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
These values speak of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity, as well as democracy and the rule of law.
The sense of the dignity of every human being and respect for that dignity lie at the foundation of civilized coexistence; forgetting them or, worse still, holding them in contempt is bound to lead to degradation and dehumanization.
Every failure to respect another human being, sooner or later, comes back to affect those who commit it.
What would you say to critics who argue that Europe’s values are also threatened by an increase of people from cultures that may not share those values?
These values can, first and foremost, be threatened by the citizens themselves. If they truly believe in them, they will do the necessary to defend them and ensure that they remain firmly upheld.
People of different cultural and religious backgrounds should be welcomed and integrated into an environment and social context where they can learn to live together in mutual respect.
However, if we ourselves do not know who we are, ignore our identity and fail to protect what truly matters and what gives meaning to our shared civic life, there will be no need for others to take away the values upon which we are founded, because we will be abandoning them ourselves.
If, on the other hand, these values remain firmly rooted within us and among us, living together with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds will only put these values to the test, as well as our capacity for dialogue and the respect we are able to establish with and towards everyone.
What specifically about the EU’s new regulations concern you?
What is concerning is the way migrants and refugees might be treated, the lack of respect for their dignity upon arrival, but also cases of pushbacks and transfers that have the character of deportations.
We have said this many times over the years, but we will never tire of repeating it: we are talking about people, not numbers.
Certainly, discernment and a careful assessment of the situation of those arriving are necessary. It is also true that reception cannot be organized without criteria or without taking into account the capacity and conditions of the countries of arrival. This is precisely why what is at stake is our ability to manage migration as a whole.
The hesitations, uncertainties and fears that have characterized our countries’ policies towards migrants have ultimately turned against us, because we have deprived ourselves of the possibility of developing a coordinated, supranational approach capable of preventing a massive and disorderly flow, which has moreover been exploited by unscrupulous traffickers.
We must start from the premise that we need to come to terms with this epochal phenomenon. The idea that we can simply stop it by closing our borders is an illusion that only leads to a waste of time and resources.
Countries of origin also have to shoulder their obligations towards their own citizens fleeing situations that are not in keeping with their human dignity.
And transit countries must also avoid the instrumentalization of migrants and situations that violate their most basic rights.
The Church recognizes both the right to migrate and the right of countries to manage their borders. If the two come into conflict, how should governments balance these rights?
Let me first point out that the first right of every person is to remain in dignity and security in his own country. When this does not happen, the person has the right to look for places where he can have both.
Mobility has always been, and today even more so, a characteristic of the human condition.
At a time when people cross all possible boundaries not only in their minds, but also through communication in all its unlimited forms, every country or group of countries may exercise their right to manage their borders not only by enforcing the laws in force, but also by defining agreements and establishing relationships with the countries from which migrants come or the transit countries.
A good practice, for example, is the establishment of safe and legal pathways for arrival. In this way, respect for people can be reconciled with respect for borders and the preservation of social order and cohesion.
Legality and institutional dialogue must continually seek and find the point of balance between these two types of rights.
Following the Ceuta crisis, Spanish bishops have warned that migrants can be used as pawns in a wider geopolitical game. How should European governments respond to this?
The critical point highlighted by this situation is precisely this: using people, treating them as instruments and even putting their survival at risk for political or strategic purposes.
When this is indeed what is taking place, the moral judgement can only be one of rejection and condemnation.
We must be unequivocal on this point. What is at risk today is the very ethical understanding of those basic principles that underpin our shared life, even before the establishment of the European Union.
A person can never be reduced to a means or an object to be used for other purposes.
The level of political and military tension and disorder we are witnessing today exposes us to the risk of turning a blind eye to unacceptable acts, or even of falling into the temptation of justifying the unjustifiable.
Pope Francis often talked about the “throwaway culture” playing a part in an indifference toward the plight of immigrants. How can the Church help move a culture from this mindset, to one that recognizes the innate dignity of every human being?
In this field, I believe that the Church is already doing much from different perspectives.
The difficulty lies precisely in a way of thinking that does not stem from specific cultural agencies, but rather from a way of life that spreads spontaneously, through a kind of molecular social dynamic.
We must continue to play our part, with confidence and determination, while ensuring that certain mindsets and practices that legitimize the unfair exclusion and discarding of people do not take root among us as believers and within our ecclesial communities.
It seems that fear about migration is a key factor behind the growth of many new European populist movements. What would you say to someone who says they feel afraid of the rapid change migration has brought about in their local community?
My conviction is that the deepest and most decisive changes taking place in our Western societies are not those brought about by the presence of immigrants and foreigners.
They undoubtedly have an impact over the longer term, but what will shape our societies most profoundly is the way in which we ourselves have chosen, and continue to choose, our way of life, how we live together and the future we wish to build.
The fear of the other is a sign of weakness with regard to ourselves.
We should hope that the profound transformations currently under way, of which migration is only one aspect, will lead us all to serious reflection and to a genuine rediscovery of what gives value to our lives and to our European civic communities.
