Migrations. A mirror of Society, a Challenge for the Church

From a sociological perspective, immigration works like a “mirror” through which we can understand our societies, foresee their possible evolutions, bring out the challenges to be faced, grasp the ethical implications of political choices and so- cial practices. This essay tests this mirror function, describing how immigration defies the insti- tution of national citizenship and reveal many of the tensions experienced by Eu- ropean democracies. Immigration, especially when it creates minorities which are visible in the public arena, challenges the idea of citizenship and the ways in which this concept has been shaped in the experience of European democra- cies. Immigration “disturbs” because it forces European democracies to remind their socially constructed and inevitably arbitrary character, despite the effort to naturalize their borders. Furthermore, immigration, since it provides an extraordi- nary opportunity for self-reflection, deepening of the faith and recovery of its au- thentic meaning, is a real challenge even for the Church.