1.2 WORKSHOP:

Migration – Part of the DNA of what it means to be Human and the Heart of the Judaeo-Christian Tradition: Pain and Possibilities for Growing Multicultural Church Communities

Presenter: Fr Noel Connolly, Head of Mission Studies, Columban Mission Institute

Migration is part of the human DNA. We are living at a time of unprecedented movement of peoples and we are in the birth pangs of a new Australia and Australian Catholic Church. Migrants bring the Church both gift and challenges. But migration is also at the heart of the Judaeo-Christian Scriptures. “Migrant” or “pilgrim” is an image of the Christian.

Together we will investigate the pain and possibilities in becoming a truly multicultural Church. Migrants, lay and clerical, challenge us to new growth as Christians but it will demand change on our part as well as theirs.