Importante artigo do The Tablet sobre um conhecido problema que volta a assustar: o odio aos imigrantes, o novo ovo da conhecida serpente dos anos 20 e 30 do século passado.
Public sentiment and political rhetoric is hardening against migrants in Italy, and legislators are proposing to restrict their rights radically. This means that the Vatican, bishops and church charities are set on a collision course with the Italian state, host of the G8 Summit
"Dying of Hope" was the title of an ecumenical prayer service held in the Rome Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere on 25 June to remember all those who have died attempting to flee to Europe from poverty, hunger or oppression.
The president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, presided at the event, which was jointly organised for the third consecutive year by the Sant'Egidio lay community, the Italian branch of Caritas, the Jesuit-run Centro Astalli, the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy and the national Christian Workers Association.
In the first four months of this year alone, some 350 men, women and children have drowned trying to cross the stormy strait between North Africa and Sicily. Conservative estimates for the number of victims who have lost their lives while attempting to enter Europe over the past two decades have reached almost 15,000.
The prayer service was held to mark World Refugee Day and to draw attention to a situation which many religious and human rights organisations say has reached crisis point here in Italy. Days earlier Pope Benedict himself had prayed for the "difficult and sometimes dramatic situation of refugees". He noted during his visit to Padre Pio's shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo that "there are many people who seek refuge in other countries fleeing from situations of war, persecution and disasters, and their reception poses many difficulties, yet it is nevertheless a duty".
But just a week earlier, Italy's lower house of parliament passed a bill proposing harsh fines (up to 10,000 euros) for immigrants who are caught without the correct documents and a jail sentence for anyone offering accommodation to "illegal" immigrants. The proposed law (expected to be passed by the Senate this week) also increases the length of time that such immigrants can be kept in government holding centres from two to six months and, most controversially, contains provisions for a national framework enabling the setting up of "citizens" patrols - critics call them vigilante groups - to help authorities combat crime
