Every first Sunday of September, in Chile the day of the migrant and the refugee are commemorated. Within that framework, the Chilean Catholic Institute of Migration (Incami) organizes activities and a collection for the actions of reception, protection and integration.
This year, the day will take the slogan “Incami 70 years of service, promoting a more fair and inclusive Chile” and will take place on Sunday, September 7, so it is proposed that in the masses of that day, the fraternity in the diversity of nationalities present in the Catholic community of Chile will be highlighted.
Receive the main news of ACI Press by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social networks. Subscribe to our free channels today:
In addition, this year it has the peculiarity of the 70th anniversary of Incami, an organism whose mission is to serve a more fair and inclusive country, through actions that promote the dignity and rights of migrants and refugees, with actions of reception, protection and integration.
Our Lord was a migrant
Regarding the 70th anniversary of the Institute, the Episcopal Conference of Chile (CECH) sent a carta With a deep thanks to the work of the institution: “Since 1955, our communities have the accompaniment of Incami, to encourage the pastoral of human mobility that, with presence in almost all dioceses of the country, has promoted specific services by the Church, promoting actions in the line of the four verbs proposed by Francisco on the migrants: to welcome, protect, promote and integrate”.
The bishops recalled that “Our Lord was a migrant; his missionary disciples are also”, and in that sense they promised not to rest “in the mission of welcoming and accompanying men and women, older people, boys and girls, adolescents and young people.”
To continue their mission, they affirm from Incami, a great missionary spirit is needed and also the sufficient economic contribution to reach more people who need the services of the Institute, whose work translates into host houses, employment bags, legal advice, land attention, regularization tasks of children and adolescents, among others.
The institute’s task is held on four axes: to host on arrival; protect in need; Promote in autonomy and integrate society.
National Collection
To be able to advance efficiently with the task of the Institute, the traditional national Incami collection will be held at the Masses of September 7.
Within that framework, they request that what was collected in this collection be sent to the Incami, depositing it in the account:
Name: Chilean Catholic Institute of Migration or Incami. Account type: current account. Bank: Banco Chile. Account number: 166-35764-02. RUT: 82,067,900-8. Mail: contacto@incami.cl.
In 2024, Incami’s work – which is based in several dioceses – achieved that more than 21,000 people received advice, of which 1,400 were to initiate the regularization procedures of minors.
In the case of the Archdiocese team of Santiago, it carried out 37 special migration care operations inside and outside the Metropolitan Region.
Julieta Villar
I am a journalist, a graduate in Communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non -governmental organizations. Since 2016 I dedicate myself to Catholic journalism, first in the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as a correspondent for ACI Press for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.