- j-p-i-c
- / Celebration / JPIC
Jubilee of Migrants: Missionaries of Hope
Fr. Richard Quadros, SVD, JPIC Coordinator
As part of the Holy Year 2025, the Church joyfully celebrated the Jubilee of Migrants from October 4 to 5, 2025, under the theme “Migrants, Missionaries of Hope.” This special observance formed part of the wider call for all believers to be “Pilgrims of Hope.”
The Jubilee highlighted the vital role of migrants and refugees in today’s world — not merely as travelers or displaced people, but as bearers of faith, resilience, and renewal.
Hope in the Face of Adversity
Many migrants and refugees endure experiences of war, violence, climate crises, and inequality. Yet, their perseverance embodies the power of hope amid suffering. The Church recognizes in them a living witness of faith, teaching us that hope is not an abstract ideal but a daily act of courage and trust in God’s providence.
Missionary Witness
Migrants are not only recipients of pastoral care — they are active evangelizers. Their faith, vitality, and cultural richness breathe new life into the local churches that welcome them. Through their example, they become missionaries of hope, building bridges across cultures and renewing communities with fresh expressions of the Gospel.
Welcoming and Integration
The Jubilee calls on all communities to see migrants not as burdens but as blessings. The Church urges believers to embrace migrants fully — recognizing their dignity, welcoming their gifts, and promoting genuine integration. This openness becomes a tangible expression of solidarity and communion.
A Call Close to Our Hearts
For the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD), the care for migrants is deeply rooted in our missionary identity. Our 19th General Chapter (Recommendation 2.1.1) challenges us to strengthen the apostolate among migrants by engaging more confreres to accompany them and serve as catalysts of hope and integration across our PRMs.
Rooted in the Word of God and nourished by the Eucharist, we see in every migrant the face of Christ — who himself was once a refugee in Egypt. Walking with migrants is not only a ministry of service but also a journey of faith, where we encounter God in new cultures, languages, and peoples.
Rediscovering Our Charism
The Jubilee invites us to rediscover our missionary calling: to cross borders, break down barriers, and build bridges of communion.
In migrants, we meet both vulnerability and strength, suffering and grace. In accompanying them, we too are evangelized — renewed in our mission to be faithful disciples of the Word and missionaries of hope in a world yearning for peace and unity.
