ECMI UPDATES at # 11 Minsheng Road, Changhua City, TA 500 TW - THE CRBC-ECMI: A BRIEF HISTORY

The foreign workers were present in Taiwan even before the government started regulating the market with the Employment Service Act in 1992, and the Catholic Church was very much aware of the situation of these undocumented workers that in February 1989 the bishops wrote a pastoral letter.

In the letter the bishops were expressing their concern for the foreign workers “which problem becomes more and more serious with each passing day” and were expressing their desire to help the government “in solving this urgent social problem”  

The Church itself made the first step by establishing under the Commission for Social Development of the Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference (CRBC) the Migrant Workers’ Concern Desk (MWCD).

It is important to recognize the greater job that MWCD did for many years, providing pastoral and social assistance to exploited undocumented migrants, guidance to religious missionaries and priests involved in the ministry and “to be the voice of the voiceless”.

In 1994 the Chinese Regional Bishop’s Conference (CRBC) established the Episcopal Commission for Migrant and Itinerant People (ECMI) appointing Bosco Lin, Auxiliary Bishop of Kaohsiung as a Chairman and Fr. Gilberto Orioli PIME as Executive Secretary and it was the only CRBC Commission based in the Southern city of Kaohsiung. 

In February 1996 the Scalabrinians arrived in Kaohsiung and in September 1996 Fr. Orioli left Taiwan. Without any official appointment but with the blessing of Bishop Lin, the Scalabrinians, started to coordinate the pastoral ministry for migrant workers not only in Diocese but all over Taiwan.

Acting on the suggestion of ECMI, in 1997 the Bishop Conference declared the Sunday nearest to the Feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz “National Migration Sunday”. 

In September 1998 the Bishops issued their second pastoral letter on migration and in December 1998, Fr. Bruno Ciceri, a Scalabrinian, was officially appointed as the Executive Secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Migrant and Itinerant People (ECMI) and at the same time a meeting of the Diocesan coordinators working with migrants was organized.

In June 1999 upon the request of The Pontifical Council for Migrant and Itinerant People of the Vatican the Commission organized in Kaohsiung the first meeting of the “Apostleship of the Sea: Asian regional meeting of Bishops Promoters and National Directors” and in September the “Asia and Pacific Regional Meeting of National Directors for Migration”.

In March 2000 the first meeting of the pastoral and social workers for foreigners in Taiwan was held in Hsinchu, followed by a second one in 2003.

In March 2007 “The Catholic Church in Asia Cares for the Migrants in Taiwan” an international conference with participants from different Bishops’ Conferences in Asia especially those in-charge of the Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People was held in Taipei and a compilation of the Pope’s messages for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (in Mandarin and English) from 1997 to 2007 was published. 

THE ECMI NATIONAL OFFICE:

Fr. ELISEO M. NAPIERE, MSP
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
# 11 Minsheng Road, Changhua City (500)
Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel. #s: (04) 723-9716 / (04) 723-1370
Fax #: (04) 723-8139
CP #: +886930577056
Email Ads: ecmiroc@gmail.com / aostaiwan@gmail.com


MIGRANTS' DIOCESAN COORDINATING TEAM
FR. NILO MANTILLA, SC - TAIPEI
FR. PETER O'NIELL, SSC - HSINCHU
FR. ANTONIO SALVANIA - TAICHUNG
FR. GREGORIO SEBASTIAN, SVD - CHIAYI
FR. MATHEW MINH-TRI LE, SDB - TAINAN
FR. ROGER MANALO, SC - KAOSHIUNG
FR. JEAN-PIERRE RICHARD, MEP - HUALIEN

APOSTLESHIP OF THE SEA
FR. ELISEO M. NAPIERE, MSP
National Director
 # 11 Minsheng Road, Changhua City (500)
Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel. #'s: (04) 723-9716 / (04) 723-1370
Fax #: (04) 723-8139
CP #: +886930577-56
Email Ad: ecmitaiwan@gmail.com

PORT CHAPLAINS
Fr. Mario Bonfaini, CMF - Keelung
Fr. Eliseo Napiere, MSP - Taichung
Fr. Roger Manalo, SC - Kaoshiung
Fr. Jean-Pierre Richard, MEP - Hualien