ICMC Council to Elect President, Appoint Governing Committee

ICMC Council to Elect President, Appoint Governing Committee
As the event in which, every four years, the Commission’s constituency comes together, the Council meeting is a most significant moment in ICMC’s life.

Gathering representatives from Catholic Bishops’ Conferences around the world, the ICMC Council will discern the Commission’s strategic direction for the next four years as well as appoint its new Governing Committee and President.

  • Update (02-March-2018): Council members will be received by Pope Francis in private audience on Thursday, 8 March 2018. The key panels and presentations will be broadcast live on Facebook and on Twitter (download the schedule of live-streamed sessions).

The Council of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) will meet in Rome from 6-8 March 2018. The assembly is ICMC’s highest governing body, and is composed of representatives of its national members, including national-level coordinating structures and specialized agencies serving refugees and migrants under the auspices of the Catholic Church.

The Council meets every four years and its statutory responsibilities include appointing the Governing Committee — the highest authority between Council meetings — and electing the President — who chairs both the Council and the Governing Committee.

The upcoming Council will also finalize and adopt a Strategic Framework 2019-2022 for ICMC and its members. “This Framework,” says ICMC Secretary-General Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo, “will aim to be dynamic and responsive to the needs of refugees and migrants today, to our roots in Catholic Church Doctrine and Tradition and to the strong leadership of Pope Francis, who invites us to ‘welcome, protect, promote, and integrate’ refugees and migrants.”

In addition to fulfilling its statutory responsibilities, the Council meeting is also an opportunity for dialogue, reflection and experience-sharing.

The global advocacy efforts taking place around the development and implementation of the two UN Global Compacts on Migration and for Refugees, which are expected to be adopted at the end of 2018, will receive significant attention at the meeting.

Participants will share their concerns about present-day migration trends as well as the experiences acquired by ICMC national members and other Catholic-inspired organizations. High-level speakers from the Holy See, the United Nations and other multilateral organizations engaged in this field will address current challenges and best practices.

As the event in which, every four years, the Commission’s constituency comes together, the Council meeting is a most significant moment in ICMC’s life.

“Sixty-seven years after its founding,” says Msgr. Vitillo, “ICMC continues its efforts to fulfill the mandate given by Pope Pius XII and counts on the support and engagement of its members during the upcoming Council meeting and long into the future.”

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WHAT WE DO

ICMC provides assistance and protection to vulnerable people on the move and advocates for sustainable solutions for refugees and migrants.