Pope Francis Migrant Centre opens for displaced in Bengaluru

‘Every act of welcome is a living Gospel,’ said Cardinal Tomasi. ‘The Church is alive here and now whenever she bends down to care for migrants.’

The Archdiocese of Bangalore opened the Pope Francis Migrant Centre to support the displaced in Bengaluru, capital of India’s Karnataka state. 

Inaugurated on 3 December by Cardinal Silvano Tomasi and launched in collaboration with the Scalabrinian Missionaries, the centre will provide temporary shelter, counselling, legal assistance, skills training, community building and emergency support for migrant families.  

It is built on the premise that “a migrant should never feel alone. The Church must be a home that listens, protects, and walks with them”, said Archbishop Victor Henry Thakur of Raipur, chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) Migrants Commission. 

The centre, close to the Yeshwantpur Railway Station, was opened on the feast of St Francis Xavier, who transformed the lives of tens of thousands in India, said Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore who is also CCBI vice president. He said the centre would seek to offer hope and opportunity to those arriving in the city looking for a better future with the same missionary zeal as the saint.  

“Every act of welcome is a living Gospel,” said Cardinal Tomasi. “The Church is alive here and now whenever she bends down to care for migrants.” 

Fr Leonir Chiarello, superior general of the Scalabrinians, said: “For over 130 years, our mission has been to accompany migrants with compassion and professionalism. This Centre continues that mission.” 

Karnataka Energy Minister K. J. George, who also attended the inauguration, spoke about his own family’s long migration history, from Syria to Kerala nearly 1,600 years ago and later to Bangalore. “I know what it means to start again. That is why I feel such closeness to every migrant seeking hope,” he said. 

The government “will always stand by the Catholic Church in its efforts to uplift and build a society where everyone, migrant or local, can live with dignity and confidence,” he added. An estimated 3,000 migrants enter the city every day.

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