The papal envoy to Thailand said migration is no longer merely a social reality but a powerful force of evangelization renewing the Church across Asia and beyond.
Archbishop Peter Brian Wells, the Apostolic Nuncio to Thailand, made the statement during the international conference on Vietnamese migrants, which opened in Bangkok on Dec. 3.
Speaking at the keynote session of the three-day gathering, titled “The Journey of Faith and the Mission of the Vietnamese Catholic Migrants in Proclaiming the Good News,” Archbishop Wells said the global movement of Vietnamese Catholics has become “one of the principal ways the Holy Spirit is writing the next chapter of Asian evangelization.”
“Migration is not a problem to be managed. It is a new form of mission in the history of salvation. Vietnamese migrants are not just receivers of pastoral care — they are protagonists of the new evangelization,” he said.
As the world quietly marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon in 1975, Vietnamese priests, religious, pastoral workers, and lay leaders from Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar convened in Bangkok.
The event was organized by St. John’s University Asian Research Center for Religion and Social Communication in collaboration with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand’s Pastoral Committee for Vietnamese Migrants.
Marking the feast of St. Francis Xavier, patron of Asian missions, Archbishop Wells linked the contemporary reality of migration to the Church’s earliest missionary experience.
He noted that the spread of Christianity from Pentecost onward occurred through displaced believers who “went from place to place, proclaiming the word.”
“The Church herself has always been migrant,” he said, adding that Vietnamese Catholics today continue this mission through their presence in factories, hospitals, fishing vessels, universities, and households around the world.
Citing earlier papal teachings — from Pope Leo XIII’s call to protect migrant workers in Rerum Novarum to Pope Francis’ insistence on the dignity of migrants in Fratelli Tutti — Archbishop Wells highlighted the Church’s ongoing commitment.
He quoted Pope Leo XIV’s recent exhortation Dilexi Te, which identifies migrants as “bearers of the Gospel’s hope” and urges Catholics to walk with them, defend their rights against exploitation, and form migrant communities as centers of faith and mutual support.
“This vision challenges all receiving Churches, including the Church in Thailand, to create genuine communities of welcome,” the nuncio said, calling for long-term pastoral structures, social and legal assistance, and the formation of bilingual clergy and lay leaders to accompany migrants.
He urged pastoral workers to become “bridge-builders” willing to meet migrants where they live and work, and acknowledged the hardships many endure, including insecure legal status, debt, and workplace exploitation.
“Vietnamese Catholics carry a faith shaped by suffering and perseverance,” he said. “Their devotion to the Eucharist, Our Lady of La Vang, and family prayer enriches local Churches and awakens a deeper joy of faith.”
Addressing participants directly, the nuncio concluded: “We are wrong if we think the migrant is merely a problem to be solved. Migrant is a gift to be received. In this encounter of faith across cultures, a more missionary Church is born.”
In a written message read to the assembly, Archbishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana of Bangkok echoed these sentiments, describing migration as a “spiritual opportunity through which the Church is renewed and extended into new frontiers of mission.”
With more than four million Vietnamese living in more than 20 countries, Archbishop Vira said the diaspora represents “a pilgrim people of hope,” capable of bridging cultures and bearing joyful witness to the Gospel in daily life.
Fr. Joseph Nguyen Hai Phuong, OP, chairman of the Bishops’ Conference of Thailand’s Pastoral Committee for Vietnamese Migrants, welcomed participants and emphasized Pope Leo XIV’s message for the 2025 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which calls migrants “missionaries of hope.”
“Catholic migrants preach the Gospel not only with words but with lives of fidelity, service, and compassion wherever they live and work,” he said.
Rev. John Hung Le, SVD, initiator of the conference, highlighted the historical journey of Vietnamese Catholics, from persecutions and refugee movements after 1975 to today’s global migration.
“Our people have carried the light of the Gospel wherever they go, enriching local Churches with faith, hope, and service,” he said.
The conference continues through Dec. 5 with expert panels and testimonies examining the pastoral, social, and missionary dimensions of Vietnamese migration, seeking new ways for sending and receiving Churches to collaborate in accompaniment and mission.
