News

07 March 2025

“Migrants, missionaries of hope” is the theme chosen by Pope Francis for the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) 2025. The theme highlights the courage and tenacity of migrants and refugees in light of the current Jubilee Year. They bear witness to hope for the future despite difficulties. It is the hope of happiness beyond borders that leads them to entrust themselves totally to God.

Migrants and refugees become “missionaries of hope” in their host communities, often helping to revitalise the faith of local communities and promoting inter-religious dialogues based on common values. They also remind the Church of the ultimate purpose of the earthly pilgrimage leading to the future homeland.

This year, the 111th WDMR will be celebrated with the Jubilee of Migrants on 4 and 5 October 2025.

The ACMRO will soon publish an online resources webpage with various articles, videos, and liturgical materials for parishes and primary and secondary schools to mark the celebration of the WDMR 2025.

With acknowledgement and thanks to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, where this article originally appeared.

06 March 2025

Each year on 20 June, the world celebrates World Refugee Day (WRD). WRD is designated by the United Nations to honour refugees who have been forced to flee their homes and to promote solidarity with them for a “world where refugees are welcomed.”

Pope Francis encourages us to welcome, promote, accompany, and integrate those who knock on our doors. The Pope invites us to pray with him that “states will strive to ensure humane conditions for refugees and to facilitate integration processes.”

The ACMRO will soon publish various online liturgical resources for parishes and primary and secondary schools to mark this year's World Refugee Day on 20 June.

Useful links: UNHCR World Refugee Day | Refugee Week

25 February 2025

In his Lenten message for 2025, Pope Francis encourages Christians to reflect on their spiritual journey by identifying with the struggles faced by migrants, fostering compassion, and embracing hope in God's promise of eternal life.

“It would be a good Lenten exercise for us to compare our daily life with that of some migrant or foreigner, to learn how to sympathise with their experiences and in this way discover what God is asking of us so that we can better advance on our journey to the house of the Father,” the pope wrote and signed on 6 February before he was hospitalised.

Pope Francis likens the Lenten journey to the Israelites’ flight from slavery in Egypt. “Our brothers and sisters who in our own day are fleeing situations of misery and violence in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones,” he added. “A first call to conversion thus comes from the realisation that all of us are pilgrims in this life… Am I really on a journey, or am I standing still, not moving, either immobilised by fear and hopelessness or reluctant to move out of my comfort zone?”

The Pope also underscored the importance of journeying together, saying Christians are called to walk “side by side, without shoving or stepping on others, without envy or hypocrisy, without letting anyone be left behind or excluded.”

With acknowledgement and thanks to the Catholic News Service, where this article originally appeared.

25 February 2025

The ACMRO joins the whole Church in praying for Pope Francis’ health and leadership.

Almighty ever-living God, eternal health of believers,
Hear our prayers for your servant, Pope Francis, who is sick:
Grant him, we implore you, your merciful help,
So that, with his health restored,
He may give you thanks in the midst of your Church.
Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

10 February 2025

The ACMRO joins the Catholic Church in celebrating Jubilee 2025 with the theme: “Pilgrims of Hope.” It officially commenced on 24 December 2024 with the rite of the Opening of the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St Peter by Pope Francis himself and will run until 6 January 2026.

There are 36 events throughout the Jubilee Year highlighting special aspects of Church life. One of these is the Jubilee of Migrants on 4-5 October. The Jubilee of Migrants acknowledges and celebrates the gifts, contributions, and resilience that migrant communities bring to our Church and the world. It is also an opportunity to highlight the image of the Church as a place of refuge, welcome, integration, and solidarity.

The ACBC’s National Centre for Evangelisation prepared a brief resource for each event that parishes and individuals can use for personal or group prayer and reflection.

Please click here to access the resource for the Jubilee of Migrants.

Source: Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network

07 January 2025

Today we’re experiencing an “educational catastrophe.” This is no exaggeration. Due to wars, migration, and poverty, some 250 million boys and girls lack education.

All children and youth have the right to go to school, regardless of their immigration status.

Education is a hope for everyone – it can save migrants and refugees from discrimination, criminal networks, and exploitation…. So many minors are exploited! It can help them integrate into the communities who host them.

Education opens the doors to a better future. In this way, migrants and refugees can contribute to society, either in their new country or in their country of origin, should they decide to return.

And let’s never forget that whoever welcomes the foreigner, welcomes Jesus Christ.

Let us pray for migrants, refugees and those affected by war, that their right to an education, which is necessary to build a more human world, might always be respected.

~Pope Francis