Thousands of migrant workers from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines filled the Taoyuan Arena on September 21, where the Catholic Church in Taiwan honored their dignity, celebrated their faith, and affirmed them as “missionaries” at the heart of the Church’s life.
More than 8,000 people — including archbishops and bishops, about 400 priests, consecrated men and women, and members of local church communities — joined the first national Gathering for Migrant Workers and Immigrants.
The event, held in the Diocese of Hsinchu, was part of the Jubilee of Hope and, according to church leaders, must not be seen as “an isolated moment, but as one step in a journey” to strengthen the pastoral care of migrants in Taiwan.
The morning session featured testimonies and presentations from immigrant communities, followed by the reading of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle’s message by Monsignor Erwin Balagapo, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, according to a report by Fides News Agency.
Tagle emphasized that the pastoral care of migrants “is rooted in the very Word of God.” In the Old Testament “the Lord Himself commanded His people to welcome and care for the stranger,” while in the Gospels, Christ “not only shows compassion for them, but even identifies Himself with them.”
“To extend care to migrants is, therefore, a sacred duty, a mission that draws down blessings,” the cardinal said, adding that migrants “are never to be regarded as a problem, but rather as persons who bear the living face of Christ.”
He urged the faithful to welcome migrants “into the life of the community, accompanied and formed so as to attain the fullness of their humanity, and — when they are Christians — to be strengthened as “authentic missionaries of the Gospel.”
In the afternoon, Bishop John Baptist Lee of Hsinchu, President of the Regional Episcopal Conference, presided over the Eucharistic liturgy, together with Bishop Martin Su of Taichung and Monsignor Stefano Mazzotti, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the Nunciature in Taipei.
Balagapo, who preached the homily, reminded the faithful that the liturgical readings “shine with God’s concern for the poor,” beginning with the prophet Amos and his denunciation of “those who exploit workers.”
“Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ, who identifies with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every age,” he said.
Speaking directly to the migrants gathered, Balagapo said the Church “looks at you and sees not only workers, but also missionaries.”
Balagapo stressed that pastoral care for migrants “is not an optional charity; it belongs to the heart of the Gospel. To welcome the migrant is to welcome Christ; to defend the dignity of workers is to defend the Lord himself.”
At the close of the gathering, Bishop Su presented the official guidelines for a pastoral care plan for migrant workers, which Taiwanese church communities will begin developing and implementing locally in the coming years.
