The tragedy of Cutro
, according to the CEI Council, "is an open wound that shows the weakness of the responses put in place. Simply closing, checking and rejecting not only does not offer far-reaching solutions, but contributes to fueling irregularities and illegality" .
"On the other hand, farsighted national and European policies are needed, capable of governing entry flows through legal channels, i.e. safe ways that avoid the dangers of sea travel, subtract those forced to leave their land due to hunger and violence against shame of detention centers and give real prospects for a better future".
The final statement of the Permanent Bishops' Council reads that
the migratory phenomenon "continues to be managed in an emergency and non-structural way"
.
From this point of view, the bishops observed, "humanitarian corridors represent both a mechanism of international solidarity and a powerful instrument of migration policy".
"In reiterating that the right to life must always be protected and that rescue at sea is an obligation for every State - adds the note -, the Bishops then recalled how strategic a dignified welcome is for the common good which has in the protection, integration and promotion are its cornerstones".
Families and children
"Strong concern" of the bishops "for the growing individualism and for the advance of visions that risk distorting the very idea of the family", which "as enshrined in the Constitution is and remains the pillar of society, a guarantee of prosperity and future".
Thus the Cei.
"Recognizing the family institution in its originality, uniqueness and complementarity means protecting children in the first place, who can never be considered a product or object of even understandable desire. In this sense, many people by now, albeit with different ideals , recognize as unacceptable practices that commodify the woman and the unborn child".
"With some apprehension - reads the final communiqué -,
the bishops turned their gaze to the demographic dynamics underway
in the country.
The recent Istat Report confirmed the inexorable decline in the population with the negative balance between births and deaths.
The constant decrease in births speaks of a distrust in the future which causes parenthood to be postponed and which determines generational imbalances with inevitable repercussions in the social fabric of the country: in school, in work, in the welfare system, in pensions". And yet "Italian families wish to have children, as evidenced, for example, by the investigations of the Toniolo Institute.
For this reason it is desirable that all those active policies be implemented which favor the birth rate and the family by rebuilding that trust in tomorrow which seems to have weakened over the years". The reflection of the Bishops "then concentrated on the condition of the many,
too many children in situations of economic and educational poverty". "From educational poverty arise school dropout, the reality of the NEET, boredom and youthful anger that feed the phenomenon of baby gangs and lead to repeated episodes of violence - adds the note -.
It is necessary and urgent to devote time and resources to the educational issue, in view of the global educational pact proposed by Pope Francis".