Theology of Migration

El «efecto Francisco» representa un fenómeno que no deja indiferente a casi nadie. Sencillez, diálogo, cercanía a los pobres, coherencia, transparencia, son solo algunos de los elementos que caracterizan al «párroco del mundo», como algunos lo definen. En estos casi dos años de pontificado, el papa Francisco ha estado próximo a la realidad de los más vulnerables, con una atención especial a las personas migrantes. Este artículo pretende avanzar en la comprensión del efecto Francisco desde la perspectiva del fenómeno complejo de la migración. Primero, el autor dialoga con lo que algunos llaman el «modelo de gestión Francisco» y sus claves de interpretación. Seguidamente el autor expone a través del esquema «acompañar-servir-defender» la comprensión que el propio papa Francisco tiene de la realidad migratoria actual. Finalmente, se presenta un pequeño balance de su «recorrido migratorio» y apuntaré algunas iniciativas que otros han iniciado tomando ejemplo de su compromiso con los migrantes.

John Wesley summarised the Methodism’s mission as spreading “scriptural holiness”. This article argues that the praxis of social justice as an expression of holiness is integral to the mission of the church. The following themes from Wesley’s theology are examined: Holiness as love; “justice, mercy, and truth”; social holiness; works of mercy as a means of grace; stewardship, and “the outcasts of men”. It argues that the praxis of justice, mercy, and truth is integral to holiness and hence to mission of the church. A contextualisation of this theme in the context of secularisation and migration is then developed.

The title of the book is: The Historical Development of Methodism: A North-South Paradigm. The title came into being on the pretext that those who are engaged in the study of Christianity have concluded that the centre of gravity has shifted from the north to the southern hemisphere. These scholars have also concluded that there are proportionally more Christians in Africa than there are in other continents (Kumalo 2012:20). According to Bediako (1997:3), this shift is a pride to Africa. In this shift, it might seem paradoxical that the book on Christianity in Africa should begin asking questions like to what extent is Africa the home of Christianity? It is amazing to note that Christianity in the global south is defined more in the political aggrandisement of the north and its de-culturization motif of the global south. The north used to send missionaries to the south, but the tables have turned, south is now sending missionaries to the north. The Methodist Church in Zimbabwe originated from Britain and now there are Methodists from Africa spreading the Gospel in Britain. Currently, the Zimbabwean Methodist Conference has three ministers serving with the British Conference with a total membership of 875 Zimbabweans participating fully in Zimbabwean Fellowships in the diaspora: 180 in Australia and 57 in Canada (MCZ Agenda of Conference 2016: R10-R18). Taking the example of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe alone, one notices that the global south has penetrated north. The same former congregants are now constituting some of the preachers in the global north. At a time when the history should be written on the development of Methodism from the global south to the global north, it is awkward that the south still has to learn more about Methodism in its global world.

The North-South Paradigm

In this book, the terms north and south have been deliberately chosen. On a common note, north and south refers to the geographical cardinal points used by travellers. However, on a deeper theological understanding, the two terms will go beyond their geographical understanding to denote the interface of Methodism from the two cardinal positions. The north in this book refers to Europe and North America while South addresses Africa in particular and the rest of the developing world, in general. The use of the two cardinal points- north and south aims to bring Europe and North America and Africa to face each other from the opposite direction on the Methodist story as it reciprocates itself. From time immemorial, the relationship of the global north and south has always been defined in the context of the oppressor and the oppressed, the master and the servant and the have vis-à-vis the have-nots, colonizer and the subaltern. In addition, the relationship was also characterized by pigmentation, where white represented superiority and black inferiority. The coming of the gospel to Africa was always regarded as the extension of the mercies of the north to the south although this is both historically and theologically incorrect. The theo-historical fact is that Africa has always been a home of Christianity, and this is evidenced by the mention of Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya in both the Old and New Testament
The Historical Development of Methodism
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and the well-known theological giants of the patristic period in the person of Origen and Augustine among others not to mention the doctrines and the first theological university in Alexandria. However, without the intention of problematizing the issue of Christianity in Africa or Africa in Christianity, one fact remains clear that Africa received Wesleyan teachings from the global north. Although some countries received these teachings a bit earlier, Wesleyan Methodism was planted in Zimbabwe in 1891 a century after the death of John Wesley in 1791. The history of Methodism in Britain in the eighteenth century has attracted a lot of scholars some of whom belong to different disciplines of academia. Two such scholars Eli Halevy and Max Weber will help us appreciate the impact of Methodism and also justifying its spread as a noble cause. As noted by Cecil Rhodes in his invitation of Owen Watkins to plant Methodism in Mashonaland (Zimbabwe), Methodism has always been doing well. Methodism made a positive impact which made this evangelical influence to be a voice well respected in the global fraternity. Some highlights on Halevy and Weber on their remarks on Methodism will help the readers to appreciate the role played by Methodism under some cruel conditions.

It is often mistakenly thought that global Pentecostalism is all about emotionalism, fanaticism, narrow biblical literalism, and (Corten and Marshal-Frantani 2001). However, a recent study suggests that there has been a paradigm shift towards a more holistic understanding of mission, which includes social ministry and political action (Miller and Yamamori 2007; Schäfer 2009; Burgess 2009; van Wyk 2015; David Muir 2018; Davies 2018). For instance, Samuel Lee is a pentecostal pastor, human rights activist, director of Center for Theology of Migrant (CThM) VU Amsterdam, and the founder of the Foundation Academy Amsterdam (FAA) The Netherlands. As a pastor, Lee is committed to minister crossculturally. As a human rights activist, Lee is well-known for his advocacy of social justice for migrants/refugees, especially the undocumented (Lee 2019). In the Netherlands context, Lee is part of an international pentecostal rebellion against racial and economic system of exploitation. He challenges the vicious structures of racism, white supremacy, and moved progressively toward an uncompromising critique of capitalism and the demons of religious intolerance in the global community. Although domestic in his direct actions, Lee is global in his vision and analysis of religious, cultural, and economic developments. As a founder of the FAA, Lee is committed to empowering migrants, refugees, and stateless people through education, exclusively their rights (FAA 2019). In this paper, I am interested in bringing Lee’s public theology and advocacy into dialogue with contemporary discourse on the Pentecostal strategies of public engagement. First, I will discuss Lee’s spiritual journey (orientation, disorientation, and reorientation). Second, I will explore Lee’s concept of the “A New Kinds of Pentecostalism” that is actually rooted in the old Pentecostalism that is found in the book of Acts —far before we even coined the term Pentecostalism (Lee 2016). Finally, I will describe Lee’s theology as a new form of Pentecostal strategies of public engagement.

Over the last decades, religious non-governmental organizations or faith-based NGOs were sidelined and undermined by Western scholars, policy-formulators, and policy-implementors (ACT-Alliance, 2016; Brockway and Hertzke, 2015). Today, however, the faith-based organization has become a vital component in the global humanitarian response (ACT-Alliance, 2016; Brockway and Hertzke, 2015). Inspired by the idea of Imago Dei, the faith-based organization came into prominence in refugee assistance and refugee resettlement work (UNHCR, 2014). For example, despite marketing itself as a Christian organization, however, CPT Europe places significant emphasis on political, economic, and public policy advocacies. This shows something different than the neo-scholastic mindset to theological and pastoral approaches. This paper examines the role of faith-based organizations, particularly Christian Peacemaker Team-Europe, in humanitarian assistance, providing legal assistance, monitoring, and protecting the human rights of refugees within the broader context of the NGO world. Following an overview of the historical development of CPT Europe and its response to the so-called, 'refugee crisis', the paper examines the important role played by the CPT Europe is explored, especially the refugee crisis in Lesvos, Greece (CPT Report, 2018). The paper suggests that faith-based organizations are uniquely situated to provide unparalleled transnational linkages and effective in grassroots-level community participation, including their rapid response to the disaster and reinforcing the resilience of local communities for peacebuilding and recovery (Oxfamblogs, 2017; Hertzke, 2015).

Due in large part to the global migration crisis, the last few years have witnessed a veritable explosion in the publication of works on relevant legal matters, the various streams within migration and diaspora research, and reflections from the Bible and theology. An informed contribution that draws from across the spectrum of these fields, however, is rare. God and the Illegal Alien is one of those uncommon exceptions.

Resumo. O cenário da mobilidade humana tem proporcionado amplo espaço para reflexões, debates e elaborações nas diversas áreas do conhecimento, referentes à realidade e demanda da migração forçada e refúgio. Esse artigo propõe-se a apresentar uma abordagem sobre a temática da animação bíblica e mobilidade humana, buscando nas experiências e nos personagens das narrativas bíblicas modelos para uma prática pastoral efetiva e eficaz junto a migrantes e refugiados. Abstract. The human mobility scenario has provided ample space for reflections, debates and elaborations in the different areas of knowledge, referring to the reality and demand of forced migration and refuge. This article proposes to present an approach on the theme of biblical animation and human mobility, seeking in the experiences and in the biblical narratives the models for an effective and effective pastoral practice among migrants and refugees.

Migration scholars Stephen Castles and Mark Miller describe our times as “The Age of Migration.”  They report their field increasingly studies three phases of the migratory process: immigration, settlement, and minority formation. U.S. Hispanic biblical scholars, theologians, and Christian ethicists have published works that reflect on all three phases.  In the early 1980s, they addressed immigration as an important aspect of U.S. Hispanic experiences, focusing on the second and third.  In the early 2000s, they began addressing immigration as having meaning and significance in and of itself, thus focusing on the first phase.  Their scholarship, therefore, contributes to a nascent literature on immigration theology.  After the review, I provide a brief history of immigration policy per Aristide Zolberg and describe its influence on Mexican undocumented immigration and mixed-status families.  I then draw from Aquinas’ order of charity to argue that beneficence calls for granting legal status to undocumented immigrants.

Mass migration and accompanying xenophobia are characteristics of the early 21st century and as such challenge the church to reimagine its identity. This article analyses migration and xenophobia particularly as they impact South Africa and then proposes the model of the church as God’s Makwerekwere as an appropriate response. In doing so, it examines New Testament images of the church and argues that the church as God’s Makwerekwere is a community in solidarity with the excluded, a community of affirmation of the excluded, a community of reconciliation and a transnational community.

This piece suggests that theological ethicists in the United States are turning to virtue ethics in ways that grapple with a sense of strangeness that marks our society and mars the lives of those whose race, language, or religion are strange to many. Consequently, it lays out how teaching and research are equipping the discipline with resources that may assist in the encounters and dialogues-in the bridge-building-that will mark a way forward, in hope. My reflections unfold in three parts. First, I use Raúl Fornet-Betancourt's intercultural philosophy to clarify the claim that a sense of strangeness marks our society and to explain why virtue ethics is of service in this context. Then, I turn to the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church (CTEWC) North America region's conversation on how cross-cultural experiences are reshaping our teaching and research, to delineate a nascent consensus on the necessary practice of humility and solidarity in cross-cultural encounters and dialogues. Finally, I offer an invitation to heed the wisdom of our colleagues by offering a few limits and possibilities that their work with virtue ethics brings to our attention. Their insights are particularly critical to those of us who are concerned with the actions that societies across the global north are taking in the midst of the irruption of the poor that marks our time: that of immigrants and refugees.

This brief paper is a response to Dr. Christine Firer Hinze's insightful paper at the Beyond Trento Interest Group of the Catholic Theological Society of America's 2015 annual meeting.  I take up Dr. Hinze's insight--that “through the [Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church] project, we North American Catholic theological ethicists are being challenged to break paths away from superficial […] or indifferent […] catholicity and solidarity, and to enter into rougher terrain"--and suggest that contexts like the one in which I teach and write in may be calling us into rougher terrain that is much closer than we may expect.  Our U.S. Hispanic and immigrant students already make the Global Church alive and present in our classrooms.  Their gifts and needs should influence our discipline's increasing global consciousness.

I delivered this response to Ilsup Ahn's Theology and Migration (Brill Research Perspectives, 2019) at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics. I am grateful to the Asian and Asian-American Working Group of the Society of Christian Ethics for the opportunity.

This essay suggests that theological ethicists in the United States are turning to virtue ethics in ways that grapple with a sense of strangeness that marks our society and mars the lives of those whose race, language, or religion are strange to many. Consequently, it lays out how teaching and research are equipping the discipline with resources that may assist in the encounters and dialogues-in the bridge-building-that will mark a way forward, in hope. My reflections unfold in three parts. First, I use Raúl Fornet-Betancourt's intercultural philosophy to clarify the claim that a sense of strangeness marks our society and to explain why virtue ethics is of service in this context. Then, I turn to the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church (CTEWC) North America region's conversation on how cross-cultural experiences are reshaping our teaching and research, to delineate a nascent consensus on the necessary practice of humility and solidarity in cross-cultural encounters and dialogues. Finally, I offer an invitation to heed the wisdom of our colleagues by offering a few limits and possibilities that their work with virtue ethics brings to our attention. Their insights are particularly critical to those of us who are concerned with the actions that societies across the global north are taking in the midst of the irruption of the poor that marks our time: that of immigrants and refugees.

Note: You may find a longer version this piece under the conferences papers section.

Illegal alien: this is what millions of men, women, and children are called under federal United States immigration law. How should Christian ethics respond to illegal immigration? This book tracks the emergence of the concept of the illegal alien in federal United States law, responding with resources from the Christian tradition.

As the alien emerges in medieval English law, where do migrants stand within God’s world? As U.S. Supreme Court Cases responding to Chinese migration make it possible to be an illegal alien, how can authorities govern immigration under God? As legislation enables nationals of neighboring Mexico to be called illegal aliens from the 1960s onward, how can neighbors practice justice and mercy?

A theology of politics points toward answers through readings of biblical passages from Genesis, Deuteronomy, the Psalms, Luke, and 1 Corinthians, read in conversation with Luther, Grotius, Barth, O’Donovan, and more.

A realidade migratória, em quanto “sinal dos tempos”, precisa ser
apropriada mais profundamente pela reflexão teológica. A Teologia
das migrações é uma disciplina que começa a se tematizar
nas últimas décadas dentro da reflexão teológica, mas devemos
achar suas raízes nas origens da compreensão do Povo de Deus e,
de certa forma, no nascimento da humanidade. Esta peregrinação
percorre a Sagrada Escritura, a tradição e o magistério.

The 2018 SCE meeting focused on the theme "Retrospect and Prospect" in order to build greater understanding of the discipline of Christian ethics in its varied cultural, methodological, and confessional forms. Latino/a ethics in the United States, by embodying a cooperative methodology (teologfa en con- junto) grounded in a liberative reading of the Christian Scriptures that employs a hermeneutics of suspicion, seeks to articulate an emancipatory and inclusive vision that yields distinctive forms of social and political action while working toward the common good. This essay provides a brief introduction to and history of Latino/a contributions to the field of Christian ethics, defines key themes that unite its various proponents, and identifies future trends.

Having an identity unconnected to their status is one of the challenges facing refugees. It is a challenge to create an alternative to the definitional context of being and belonging since the refugee phenomenon is arguably the largest migratory movement among all forms of human mobility. In South Africa, refugees often suffer in silence with little or no help even as they go through painful experiences. These and related phenomena pose a praxical challenge to theology and raise questions on the practice of diakonia in light with the refugee phenomenon. The question could, therefore, be asked: “how can the church respond to the growing migratory trend?” This article demonstrates how the church as an agent of hope can translate the multi-layered dynamics of vulnerability experienced by refugees into a diaconal opportunity so they can be able to say with confidence, for example, in South Africa, “we live, and move, and have our being”. The article uses the findings from a recently completed doctoral research on the health and wellbeing of refugees in Cape Town, South Africa. The data on which this article is based were collected qualitatively through interviews and focus group discussions.

Si bien las migraciones humanas no constituyen un fenómeno exclusivamente moderno o posmoderno, el crecimiento abrupto que han tenido en los últimos tiempos ha generado que distintos sociólogos caractericen la condición actual como la era de las migraciones. En este contexto, uno de los puntos más controversiales se ha desarrollado en torno a la frontera México-Estados Unidos, en especial, a partir de las operaciones llevadas a cabo en el área durante las últimas dos décadas por el gobierno estadounidense. De hecho, desde el lanzamiento en 1994 de la denominada Operación Guardián en la frontera Tijuana-San Diego, extendida luego a otros cruces fronterizos clave como Ciudad Juárez-El Paso, se estima que más de diez mil latinoamericanos han muerto tratando de cruzar la frontera hacia el norte. Detrás de esta operación de control y vigilancia, la estrategia empleada ha sido la de “prevención mediante disuasión”, a través de la cual se esperaba que, una vez que los sitios estratégicos de la frontera fueran prácticamente bloqueados, los flujos inmigratorios serían canalizados forzosamente hacia las zonas más inhóspitas y peligrosas, como el desierto de Arizona, y el número de inmigrantes irregulares que ingresaran al país disminuiría considerablemente. No fue lo que ocurrió. De hecho, no sólo no existe evidencia de que el uso de esta estrategia no redujo la inmigración ilegal en la frontera, sino que el número de inmigrantes muertos creció de manera desmesurada.

Cuando agentes federales o estatales son interrogados sobre estas muertes, la respuesta ha tendido a concentrarse en una culpabilidad dirigida hacia los mismos migrantes ya que, después de todo, son ellos quienes deciden arriesgarse a cruzar la frontera. Sin embargo, los movimientos migratorios, y el de los latinoamericanos hacia Estados Unidos no es una excepción, son producto de dimensiones estructurales del proceso de globalización (¿o americanización?) de la cultura y el comercio. En otras palabras, el que miles de centroamericanos arriesguen día a día su vida para cruzar la frontera hacia Estados Unidos en búsqueda de mayores oportunidades laborales y de vida es una respuesta a la creación histórica de un planeta dividido, principalmente, entre un Primer Mundo acaudalado, democrático y, el menos en teoría, libre y un Tercer Mundo pobre, corrompido y sumido en la desesperanza. El gobierno estadounidense y los medios de comunicación de ese país, en especial después del 9/11, han construido la imagen de la frontera entre ambos países como una que es problemática y que constantemente amenaza la seguridad nacional del país. Asimismo, han creado la imagen del migrante irregular no sólo como uno que es clandestino, incivilizado, y hasta sucio sino como uno que es, incluso, un extraterrestre.

A partir de distintas experiencias en América Latina y, en particular en El Salvador, el teólogo y filósofo español naturalizado salvadoreño Ignacio Ellacuría forja la imagen de lo que, por un paralelismo que traza con el Siervo de Yahveh y con Jesucristo, él llama los pueblos crucificados. Ellacuría caracteriza a estos pueblos como aquellas comunidades que, siendo la mayoría de la humanidad, padecen condiciones de opresión, sufrimiento y muerte, y deben tal condición a un orden socio-económico promovido y sostenido por una minoría que ejerce el poder sobre ellos. El teólogo italiano Gioacchino Campese toma esta metáfora y la aplica para caracterizar a los migrantes irregulares latinos que cruzan la frontera de México a Estados Unidos. Aquí, adoptaré un enfoque desde la historicidad de estos migrantes y sólo consideraré las condiciones estructurales de dolor y pobreza de los mismos, más que las atribuidas similitudes entre éstos y el Siervo de Yahveh o Cristo.

A pesar del distanciamiento que el pensador estadounidense Richard Rorty presenta entre el Cristianismo o el universalismo ético secular y su filosofía, en este trabajo, me atreveré a poner en contacto un concepto de su filosofía con, precisamente, algunas propuestas teológicas. Específicamente, y en una re-elaboración de nuestro léxico último (¡por qué no plantearlo así!), entretejeré su concepto de solidaridad con algunos de la Teología de las Migraciones. Argumentaré, de hecho, que el concepto de solidaridad de Rorty puede contribuir a temporalizar el amor al prójimo cristiano en la contingencia histórica de los migrantes irregulares latinoamericanos hoy y, con ello, desde una nueva perspectiva, re-significar al menos parte de la metodología de la Teología de las Migraciones.

Abstract: If Christianity is to offer a compelling account of its message of hope and redemption in the midst of tragedy, then it must wrestle with the meaning of God’s presence (or lack thereof) in great suffering. This paper discusses this topic in light of the current Syrian refugee crisis, drawing on journalistic interviews and NGO reports to catch a glimpse of the lived experience of refugee women, in particular, and to understand the refugee situation more broadly. Incorporating feminist and pneumatological theologies, I have merged previous work on the “God in Exile” motif, “the Suffering God” (i.e. the theodicy question), and the “Motherhood of God” to argue for a theology of maternal lament as a means of exploring God’s relational, abiding presence the midst of historical, embodied, social, and spiritual suffering. The image of God as the suffering refugee mother provides a profoundly engaging and nuanced image of divine presence in suffering that creates the space for new narratives of redemptive healing.

This article was published in Liguorian 102 (January, 2014): 28-31, on the occasion of the Vatican’s 100th World Day for Migrants and Refugees.  It focuses on an insight offered by John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis (one each) on the meaning and ethical implications of immigration.

Esta es una reproducción parcial del reporte del proyecto de diagnóstico que el Departamento para la Pastoral de Migrantes de la Comisión Episcopal para la Pastoral de la Movilidad Humana, Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano llevó a cabo en 1999 y 2000. El proyecto identificó albergues y comedores para inmigrantes más allá de Tijuana y Ciudad Juárez. Fue base para apoyar una naciente red de pastoral migratoria en el país.

El acercamiento y contenido elegidos para esta presentación tienen el propósito de darle a conocer al participante del taller algunos elementos básicos del sistema migratorio mexicano y de la política migratoria mexicana, con el objetivo de que este pueda mantener una autoformación continua. Para lograr un conocimiento básico de la política migratoria mexicana y del funcionamiento del sistema migratorio mexicano, la presentación se guiará por medio de las siguientes tres preguntas, enfocándose en el trato que estos otorgan a inmigrantes y transmigrasteis que viven en, visitan o transitan por nuestro país:

I. ¿Cuáles son las características migratorias en Mexico?
II. ¿Cuál es la política migratoria mexicana y cómo influir en ella?
III. ¿Qué ha cambiado desde el once de septiembre?

By turning to solidarity and lo cotidiano, this chapter tends to the dilemmas that mixed-status families are confronting in daily life to diversify Catholic reflections on family ethics. It is part of an edited volume (Sex, Love, and Families: Catholic Perspectives, Liturgical Press, 2020).

This article aims to explore the subject of migration within the horizons of imperial unicity by reviewing the historical roots and modern modifications of cosmopolitan ideology. It intends to detect its theoretical foundations and test them against the Orthodox missionary goal to become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

In 2016 together with SIPCC I organised an international seminar on migration theology and pastoral care and counseling. One of the guest-speakers was prof. Susanna Snyder (London). This article is a review on her work in the theology of migration. I invite the reader to look at this publication from different angles, based on the contemplative and prophetic perspective of Thomas Merton.

Después de ofrecer un breve análisis de la externalización de las fronteras estadounidenses y europeas, este ensayo pasa a identificar algunas implicaciones morales; finalmente, cierra con una breve reflexión ético-teológica. En esa reflexión, el ensayo se apoya en el lenguaje dominico sobre la relación entre la caridad y la misericordia para sugerir que hace falta cultivar actitudes de amistad con el migrante y el refugiado, especialmente el sirio y el centroamericano. El ensayo concluye proponiendo que la esperanza en el contexto de esta crisis de refugiados descansa en comunidades cristianas que ayudan a sus miembros a recuperar la capacidad de sentir la misericordia y practicar la beneficencia, las cuales son propias de la caridad.

How may one see immigrants through Oblate eyes?  Does one who have an Oblate heart serve immigrants in a distinct way?  Is there a future for migrant ministry in an Oblate key?  In this article, I suggest that the answer is most surely yes on each count.  I believe that the Oblate charism offers distinct insights into the meaning and implications of immigration. I develop these insights in three sections, one focusing on recent developments on the discernment of immigration as an aspect of the Oblate charism, another laying out some challenges in living the charism in the midst of migrant ministry today, and finally one that briefly explores the future of that ministry in the Oblate world.

In this essay I want to explore the biblical and Christian thought regarding the virtue of hospitality, and especially the relationships between Christians as hosts, and non Christian people as guests. Due to the different positions assumed by the European countries towards the migrant people nowadays, I stress the role of religion in promoting the way to a brotherly cohabitation of itinerant with local people. So, moving from the very suffered situation of the migrants which came from Asia and Africa in Europe, I present shortly the biblical roots of hospitality, then three examples of a paradigmatic imigrant – Abraham, People of Israel and Jesus Christ; they could inspire our personal and political decesions to help the migrant peoples. After this presentation I move to the laws and limits of hospitality, of any kind – social, religious, sacramental etc. This time my analysis is based on Thomas of Aquinas social-theological thought, according to which doesn’t exist a social life without a real engagement to promote the common good. The third part of my essay explains some social duties of the migrants towards the hosting people and some religious limits of hospitality following two kind of relations that could sustain a brotherly cohabitation of different denominational people: ecumenical and inter-religious.