Tacna, Peru – November 25th, 2015. On the 24th of November, 2015, in Tacna, Peru, a few kilometers from the border with Chile, a new home for migrants, Santa Rosa de Lima, was completed. The event was commemorated with a Holy Mass followed by a blessing of the commemorative plaque. This House was a joint project, with the participation of Diocese of Tacna and Moquegua, and of the Congregation of the missionaries of St. Charles Scalabrinians, supported by the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN).
About 100 people attended to the event, including Mons. Marco Antonio Cortez Lara, Bishop of the Diocese of Tacna and Moquegua, Father Agenor Sbaraini, Regional Superior of the region Mary Mother of Migrants, of the Scalabrinian Missionaries, Mr. Jeremy MacGillivray, representing the IOM-Peru, as well as governmental, civil and military authorities of Tacna (Peru) and Arica (Chile).
Mons. Marco Antonio stressed the need to “keep the door open, a sign of welcome and of passage” as the migrants make their journeys; one which deserves a path unimpeded. “We can insure home, car and even animals, yet we do not have these same assurances for solidarity and brotherhood”. Mr. Jeremy MacGillivray stressed the collaboration with SIMN already established in other countries and now crystallized in Peru. Father Isaldo Bettin presented a brief history of the Scalabrinian presence in the region, highlighting the continuity of the project secure and solidary borders.
Father Mário José Zambiasi, Assistant Executive Director of SIMN, observed that “now the migrants have a comfortable space in the middle of the Andean corridor, away from the many uncertainties of their journey” and commented that, with this new home, SIMN continues to extend its outreach.