“Solidarity, a pastoral service for foreign workers”

Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

       The love of the Father, the grace of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit be with you!

       The Message of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Asia of 14th May this year stated: "Special attention must be paid to migrant workers. Millions of them leave their families to earn their livelihood in other countries. Pastoral care for them in their own ecclesial tradition is most necessary. If they are Christians, a proper formation will enable them to be evangelizers in their host countries." 

       The economic development of Taiwan has been enviable. Since promoting the big ten projects, its labor force requirements have increased more and more.

       However, changing population structure, social trends and life values have contributed to difficulties in meeting manpower requirements. For this reason, it became necessary to allow foreign workers to enter the country. In 1989, the Chinese Episcopal Conference wrote a pastoral letter for the pastoral care of foreign workers. The situation has greatly changed in the past nine years.  Since 1992, when the law of labor and service was approved, a great number of foreign workers have come to work in Taiwan. Data from the Ministry of the Interior show that in 1997, foreign workers numbered 258,000 of which 136,000 were Thais, 102,000 Filipinos, 19,000 Indonesians and more than a thousand Malaysians. If clandestine workers are added to this figure, the total would be more than 300,000.

       Foreign workers have become the fourth largest group in the Taiwanese population, after the aborigines.

       In his Message for the 1997 World Migration Day the Holy Father Pope John Paul II voiced an appeal to the whole world to be in solidarity with migrants in their difficulties: "The Church's commitment to migrants and refugees cannot be reduced merely to organizing structures of hospitality and solidarity." It is necessary "to reflect on the conditions of migrants and refugees" and "identify their priority needs." Our friends, the foreign workers, cross the oceans to come to this host country. Here they experience isolation and solitude. Their only aim is to help their own family emerge from poverty.

       The factors that generate migrants in the world today are:

       · poverty, which make people leave their country to find a job;
       · social and national instability, which force people to leave their country;
       · natural and man-made catastrophes.

       The entry of a large number of foreign workers has had a great impact on Taiwanese society. It is common knowledge that foreigners have greatly contributed to the economic development of Taiwan. They work night and day. They have increased Taiwan's capacity to compete in the world market. Having left their own country and their loved ones, they have to adjust to the local culture, customs and work style. This has caused many social problems which merit to be studied and solved.

1. The Service of the Church in favor of migrant workers

       "Yahweh said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your family and your father's house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing" (Gn 12,1-2). Any migrant would have the same wish: to go back home triumphant and in abundance.

       Our friends, the foreign workers, are inserted in all labor sectors. Their different language, customs, traditions and religion, as well as personal and economic limitations can hinder our contact and communion with them. However, with the love of Christ and in solidarity with foreigners, we, as Church, give them religious and social services and work with them in promoting their fundamental rights.

       In 1989, a committee aimed at forging solidarity with foreign workers was instituted under the Commission of Social Development of the Episcopal Conference of Taiwan. Of the great number of foreign workers who have come to Taiwan, there are those who come from Catholic countries like the Philippines who go to mass in the neighborhood church. Foreign domestic workers, in particular, are growing in number and have formed a very dynamic group. They have become the recipients of the pastoral services of priests and lay people. In 1993, with the commitment and efforts of various groups, the Episcopal Conference instituted the Episcopal Commission for Migrants and Itinerant People in order to elevate its level of service and assistance to help foreign workers solve their problems in daily life regarding legal questions, and offer them sacramental services and formation regarding the teachings of the Church.

2. Current problems to be considered

       a.  Although the coming of foreign workers in Taiwan is not without problems, their contribution to the socio-economic development of the country is a well-known fact. Foreign workers have left their country and come to a land they do not know. They have to face a lot of difficulties and it is for this reason that problems arise. From our contacts with people working in the pastoral field, we are aware that our friends, the foreign workers, are subjected to various kinds of problems related to labor contracts, passports, broker fees, wages, overtime pay, and vacation leave. At times, they are forced to work without any rest. They have become tools of production. They had to borrow a large amount of money to be able to leave their country. In Taiwan, they have to work without complaining for fear of being fired and losing their jobs. These people have profoundly suffered great harm and they do not know whom to turn to. Some of them escaped from their employers and have become illegal or turned to the Church for help.

       b.  The people of Taiwan have both a positive and a negative opinion about foreign workers. Often we hear that since foreign workers receive very low salaries, unemployment among local workers has increased. The difference in culture, language, religion and even in life values has caused a lot of psychological problems.

       In reality, government policy regarding foreign workers limits their numbers and also the type of work that they can undertake, in order to guarantee employment of the local people. To be able to enter the country, foreign workers have to go through a very complex process, often through an employment agency. Since the fee is very high, many of them are forced into debts and have their houses and property mortgaged. Having incurred these expenses to work outside their native lands, their main concern is to earn enough money to pay all these debts. At times they are forced to suffer unfair treatment. Some have turned to criminality and become a threat to the social order of Taiwan. We hope that through the consideration of people everywhere, we will be able to solve this serious problem. We also hope that there will be more people of good will and groups that will support or get involved in ministering to foreign workers.

       c.  There is another emerging phenomenon in Taiwan: the increase of foreign brides. Data from our pastoral workers indicate that there are thousands of mixed marriages involving Chinese and foreigners. There are about a thousand Chinese citizens married to Filipinas. According to statistics from the Episcopal Conference of the Philippines, Chinese-Filipino marriages increase by 600 couples each year. A large majority of Chinese husbands are not Catholics. How can we help this type of families, including the education and religious formation of the second generation?

3. Our objective for the Future

       Jesus said, "In so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me" (Mt 25, 40). The love of Christ urges us to serve our friends, the foreign workers, to be in solidarity with them and to provide them with more effective services. The whole Church must be guided by the same principles, derived from the Holy Father's Message for World Migration Day, and we must work together. The aim of our work is to coordinate with the local Churches.

       a.  In solidarity with the Universal Church and in answer to the Pope's appeal, the Episcopal Conference of Taiwan, gathered in General Assembly in April 1996, decided to celebrate National Migration Sunday on the Sunday before or after the feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz, which falls on September 28. (This year, we are celebrating it on September 27.) Foreign workers now play an indispensable role in Taiwanese society, especially Filipino workers. The majority of them are Catholics. On Migration Sunday, let us pray above all for foreign workers. Let us take this occasion to explain the theme and the teaching of the Message of the Holy Father. Let us participate in the liturgy organized for them and make use of this good opportunity to give them encouragement and support.

       b.  Each diocese is to institute a section for the pastoral care of foreign workers which will explore ways to improve services for foreign workers. Towards this end, the section will organize meetings so that people involved in this ministry will have the opportunity to study and exchange ideas, or experts, regarding problems affecting foreign workers.

       c.  Persons and organizations that render service to foreign workers in each diocese should have channels to help each other and unite their forces in solving similar cases.

       Finally, let us pray together and ask the Spirit of God to guide us so that we may give the best service to our friends who have left their own country, to make them feel the affection of the big family of the Church, to give them a good formation and to make them become the new hope for the Church of Taiwan, the bridges of the new evangelization.
We wish you the Lord's peace.

                                        Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-hsi, S.J.
                                        President, Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference (CRBC)

                                        Bishop Bosco Lin Chi-nan
                                        President, Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People                                         And all the Bishops of Taiwan
                                        8 September 1998, Feast of the Nativity of Mary