Faith and Migration – Dominicans Look Through the Lens of Faith

By Ernest Mwape OP – In a new book, the Dominicans articulate the issue of migration from a faith perspective, an angle few historians have so far explored.

The book, Faith and Migration, is an initiative of the Dominican vice-province of Southern Africa in conjunction with Cluster Publications, a non-profit publishing enterprise in Pietermaritzburg.

It includes contributions from 24 authors and was edited by Br Philippe Denis OP.

Faith and Migration stems from a Dominican study week held in Maritzburg in 2016. Unusually, few speakers were academics; most were Dominican students, priests, pastors, and NGO workers.

In their presentations, the participants discussed the spiritual and theological reasons that challenge Christians and people of others faiths to recognise that migrants are our brothers and sisters and can contribute immensely to their new home.

The book’s launch was held at Emphathelweni Dominican Priory in Scottville, Maritzburg.

Mervyn Abrahams, director of the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA), said the role of the Christian faith in the humanitarian sector is to institute a spirit of hospitality towards strangers in a possibly hostile environment.

He said there is a need for theologians, biblical scholars and laity to discuss migration using the chronicles of the Christian faith, voice migrants’ faith experiences and the economic and political controversies they encounter while on the move, and assist in the preservation of their religious and cultural identity as they settle in foreign lands.

Faith and Migration can be ordered at R105 (plus p&p) from www.clusterpublications.com/current-titles/160-faith-and-migration.html