"Higher Education in a Global Context"

ROME, JUNE 26, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address delivered June 24 by Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, at the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Rome Seminar on "Higher Education in a Global Context."

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(1) Introduction.

Yet again, I am delighted to be with you and thank you for your invitation once more to be able to share with you some thoughts on higher education within a Global Context.  As many of you will know part of our work at the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People is to study, monitor and propose ecclesial pastoral responses to the growing phenomenon of human mobility.  Amongst the nine different sectors with which we are occupied is one that exclusively looks at the needs and concerns of foreign students. It is from their perspective that I would like to share with you some thoughts which I hope will be useful to you who are educators and pastors. I would, in particular, also like to draw some thoughts and observations from the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate of Pope Benedict XVI, published last year.  Whilst the encyclical offers a comprehensive treatment of “authentic human development” and what promotes and threatens it, such as the elimination of world hunger, the safeguarding of the peace and stability of the planet, the direct threats on human life and dignity and that which undermines genuine human development, there is much that is  proving to be an important source for our reflections on migration and a real pastoral theology based on love and truth. Pope Benedict also offers us a complex and distinctive assessment of globalization, reaffirming that “globalization . . . is neither good nor bad. It will be what people make of it. We should not be its victims, but rather its protagonists, acting in the light of reason, guided by charity and truth. . . . It is necessary to correct the malfunctions, some of them serious, that cause new divisions between peoples . . . The transition inherent in the process of globalization presents great difficulties and dangers that can only be overcome if we are able to appropriate the…ethical spirit that drives globalization towards the humanizing goal of solidarity.”[1]

(2) The global revolution of mobility in higher education.

Pope John Paul II said, “To belong to a university community … is to stand at the crossroads of the cultures that have formed the modern world.”[2] Today higher education has entered an unprecedented period of globalization with what has come to be known as ‘knowledge economy’ forcing people to move into other worlds and cultures.  Increased global migration and student mobility has consequently resulted in a greater diversity in education. Nations are ploughing enormous sums of their capital into the development and expansion of tertiary learning and research at every level. Over the past decades universities have progressively found themselves at the forefront of new global thinking.  Today possessing knowledge and having the ability to put it to use is seen as absolutely critical to both personal and societal development.  The improvement of a skilled and globally attuned workforce is a key ingredient to competitiveness and prosperity which is both international and global.  Higher education is now seen as the main provider of such labour in addition to the need for constantly developing new ideas, technologies, methods, products and services which are essential for future economic growth.

Academic migration is not a new issue. In fact it is as ancient as the institutions themselves.  Since the middle ages academic fluidity between both professors and students has been a major feature of learning.  However, what is different today is that what was initially on a European scale has now expanded into a mass global movement which crosses a whole range of boarders and institutions.  However, in the words of Pope Benedict, “As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbours but does not make us brothers”.[3] The Pope is keen from the outset of his Encyclical to remind us that a true global interconnectedness and society must have an “authentic human development which concerns the whole of the person in every dimension” and that “the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity”.[4]

(3) Foreign students – an overview.

UNESCO reports that there are now 138 million students worldwide seeking degrees which is in itself an increase of 40% in the past decade.  It is said that there are possibly more people today participating in higher education than collectively have been to university in all of history.  New universities are springing up at a rate till now unknown and access to tertiary education is becoming for many not just a far off aspiration but an achievable reality.  Over the past decades the monopoly of the ancient and elite universities has been slowly broken.  This has been coupled together with the arrival of literally thousands of international students integrating within the diverse populations of host countries which are themselves often the product of several generations of migration.  In 2009 there were just under three million students enrolled outside their country of origin, a 50% increase within the last ten years.  Traditionally more than 90% of foreign students have enrolled in institutions in countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with the main destinations being the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia and Canada. Today the choice of academic disciplines and institutions, both for study and research, between students and professors bring not only vast benefits but also new and evolving challenges.  Nevertheless these traditional countries both of origin and destination and now being confronted by a multiplicity of factors and governments and institutions are needing to rethink structures, courses and collaboration.  Moreover, a recent study has suggested that the total demand for international student places will exceed 7.5 million by 2025.  Higher education is thus entering new, yet exciting territory which no one can ignore.

New forms of collaboration and exchanges are being increasingly developed that create an interconnectedness hitherto unknown.  The spending of time abroad during an academic career or a  period of study is now seen as desirable or even essential in acquiring the necessary skills and gaining experience needed for the 21st century. Dynamic and multidisciplinary approaches are part of the core values at the heart of new educational courses.

(4) Brain drain vs. brain gain.

For many developing countries, their future not only lies in political stability but in economic growth.  This largely depends not just on physical aid to meet immediate needs but also in the development of education systems and the preparation of the finest minds.  Much effort has already been spent in the expansion of primary and secondary education being made available to all.   However, access to tertiary education has not always been available or desirable.  For well over a  century, since the highpoint of colonialism, some third world students have been given access to higher education abroad along with their European and American counterparts. This has now extended along with the building of national universities in almost every country. As these new universities continue to develop  it is still seen as advantageous for the most able, though not exclusively so, to avail themselves of the world’s larger and better universities. Here Pope Benedict reminds us that “Greater solidarity at the international level is seen especially in the ongoing promotion — even in the midst of economic crisis — of greater access to education, which is at the same time an essential preconditio n for effective international cooperation. The term “education” refers not only to classroom teaching and vocational training — both of which are important factors in development — but to the complete formation of the person..”.[5]

However, such access to education, particularly at a tertiary level, carries its own risks when students from poorer and developed countries seek such education outside the confines of their national borders, particularly in the ‘First World’.   What has now come to be known as ‘brain exchange’ and ‘brain drain’ need to be equally weighed up against each other and written into any financial equations by any government or institution sponsoring student study outside of national borders.  Nowadays this has become part of the cost in upgrading the human capital of youth.  Furthermore, some governments and sponsorship countries have attempted to overcome such hemorrhage with written contracts that bind students to return and work in their country of origin.  Whilst this ensures a growing home work force it can often conflict with freedoms for research and other forms of employment.  Moreover it should also be noted that migrants serve as important sources of income for stability and development through the sending of remittances. These reached 328 billion US dollars in 2008, with India, China and Mexico retaining their position as the top recipients of remittances among developing countries.  What percentage come from former foreign students who have settled as professionals into academic life, research or work related to their studies is not known, but  international student flows can create mutual gains.  Once again Pope Benedict recognizes these tensions attesting that  “foreign workers, despite any difficulties concerning integration, make a significant contribution to the economic development of the host country through their labour, besides that which they make to their country of origin through the money they send home. Obviously, these labourers cannot be considered as a commodity or a mere workforce. They must not, therefore, be treated like any other factor of production.”[6]

If we were to take the US as an example, foreign national students have focused on the sciences, engineering, technology and mathematics, and in these they are disproportionably represented.  According to statistics, 60% of all engineering doctorates, 50% of those in mathematics, computer sciences, physics and economics and 40% in agricultural sciences are obtained in the USA.  In the last decade of last century those who were Asian born and had obtained college degrees in the USA rose from 141,000 to 460,000.[7]  Two thirds of foreign citizens who received science and engineering doctorates in 2003 were still living in your country in 2005.  Five year stay rates for Chinese was put at 92% and Indians at 85%.  However whilst much has been said about the brain drain (and we are now also speaking of ‘care drain’), however it would seem as if there is at present some reversal in the tide.  A survey completed last year within the US suggested that Chinese students strongly felt that their best job prospects were not in the host country of their study but rather back home in China itself.  

(5) From economic commodity to instruments of global development.

For a considerable period much emphasis has been put on the recruitment of foreign students as part of a collective approach to create finances for individual universities, largely through the charging of higher fees and also to generate national income.  Some universities have clearly allotted places over and above home students, primarily as a means of finance with governments recognizing only too clearly the contribution made by these students to their national economy. For instance, last year foreign students in the United States contributed $15.5 billion US dollars to the economy.  In Great Britain the contribution was also substantial, standing at £12.5 billion UK Sterling and in Australia, $15.5 billion Australian dollars.  None of this includes future economic potential should a student choose to stay on, more permanently, within the host country of study. There is real danger that many foreign students (as would be migrant workers) can be considered by their host country as primarily economic commodities. Caritas in Veritate is very clear in affirming that “Every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance.”[8]

However, governments and universities are increasingly recognizing and emphasizing that other important factors are currently interwoven with the recruitment and presence of foreign students.  It is now well identified that there is a link between national economic success and strong universities.  It remains however the question for this and successive generations whether this can also be translated into a means of global development and peace, for, in the words of Richard Levin, President of Yale University: “Few instruments of foreign policy are effective in promoting a stable and peaceful world as welcoming international students to one’s universities”[9]

He continued by adding: “As never before in their long history, universities have become both instruments of national competition and instruments of peace. They are the locus of the scientific discoveries that move the economy forward, and the primary means of educating the talent required to obtain and maintain competitive advantage.”[10]

Quite simply, today’s students are tomorrow’s future, and today’s foreign students are part of tomorrow’s global peace and justice.  Thus the  university is increasingly being understood as a major public good and a contributor to social and global stability.

Global problems threaten our collective future, peace and stability – nuclear proliferation, terrorism, financial instability, poverty and hunger, disease and health, climate change, population movements and dispersals are demanding ever more specialized study, analysis and policy making.  Interconnected global factors are now part of the solutions and the Universities will be in the forefront of addressing global issues in a  more deliberate coordinated effort than ever before.

We might then ask of ourselves the extent to which academic mobility and the presence of foreign students in the milieu of higher education enhances such a view.  If the presence of students from different backgrounds and cultures are a major force for world good, what are our universities doing to create an environment that nurtures the best individuals and allows future ‘knowledge workers’ to learn from one another, take responsibility and to compete globally.

For this we need to return again to the vision of Pope Benedict in Caritas Veritate who has this to say: “peace-building requires the constant interplay of diplomatic contacts, economic, technological and cultural exchanges, agreements on common projects, as well as joint strategies to curb the threat of military conflict and to root out the underlying causes of terrorism. Nevertheless, if such efforts are to have lasting effects, they must be based on values rooted in the truth of human life.”[11]

Once again he calls for the centrality of the human person as the means by which a genuine society can be built up by charity in truth.

(6) Universities as promoters of a new humanism.

For Pope Benedict, at the heart of living charity is truth, and for this to occur, there is a inescapable need to be open to the ‘Transcendent’, to the source of all that is  the “wellspring of the Father's love for the Son, in the Holy Spirit.” For  “Love comes down to us from the Son. It is creative love, through which we have our being; it is redemptive love, through which we are recreated. Love is revealed and made present by Christ (cf. Jn 13:1) and “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5).”[12]
From this we are properly able to identify as members of the christian family.  However it is simply not enough to state this, for we must create societies, indeed a world in solidarity that puts God at the centre and recognizes that inherent dignity of each person created in the divine likeness.  It is in this understanding that he calls for  “a true humanism to the full”,[13] a “transcendent humanism”[14] and a “humanism open to the absolute”.[15]  This call resonates and is in clear continuity with the teaching also of Pope John Paul II when addressing University Professors in the Jubilee year of 2000 when he reaffirmed the need for a  university culture that was truly ‘humanistic’ with a culture corresponding to the human person.  He continued by asking that universities should become ‘cultural laboratories’ for a humanism which was “a vision of society centred on the human person and his inalienable rights, on values of justice and peace, on a correct relationship between individuals, society and state, on the logic of solidarity and subsidiary.  It is a humanism capable of giving soul to economic progress itself, so that it may be directed to ‘the promotion of each individual and of the whole person’.”[16]

He joined this understanding to a call to students and professors saying: “your vocation is of living and bearing witness in an effective way to this relationship between the individual branches of knowledge and that supreme ‘knowledge’ which concerns God, and which in a  sense coincides with him, with his Word made flesh and with the spirit given by him”.[17]

This is none other than what Ex Corde Ecclesiae calls “the joy of learning and rejoicing in the truth”[18] and “to think rigorously…to act rightly and to serve humanity better”.[19]  Above all this is at the heart of what any Catholic educational institution attempts to impart for “Catholic education aims not only to communicate facts but also to transmit a coherent, comprehensive vision of life, in the conviction that the truths contained in that vision liberate students in the most profound meaning of human freedom”.[20]

(7) Globalization, curriculum and mobility.

A true Christian humanism is one that whilst being firmly rooted in the Creator is also able to open students and professors alike to cultures, views and even religions different from their own experience, thus imparting to them respect and tolerance, without relativism.  It needs the production of a new knowledge and research tailored to the 21st century and beyond whilst at the same time holding on to that - to use a  phrase of Pope Benedict -  a “hermeneutic of continuity” with reference to knowledge that has positive sustained humanity down through the centuries.  In this the university, with its diversity of disciplines and students coming from different cultures and backgrounds is uniquely placed to think about the problems facing society of a global international scale.  Thus Universities need to be places that develop cultural hearts through a clear understanding of exchange and solidarity. With knowledge having become so diversified there needs to be a greater internationalizing or networking of courses of study.  Hitherto there have been opportunities for study either in formal exchanges or periods of a study abroad or in external campuses that have sprung up throughout the globe. These need developing into international and environment and international experiences that benefit both students from host countries and those of origin. For exchanges to be fruitful, Curricula also need to reflect a whole range of learning understanding, not solely disciplines that have a utilitarian outlook but also the Liberal arts, humanities and, where possible, theology and philosophy as important programmes complimenting sciences, engineering and medicine as indispensible for fostering healthy culture and society. This is very much the vision that John Henry Newman advocates in his ‘Idea of a University’ and the “atmosphere” of which G.K. Chesteron claimed should be fifty percent of Education.[21] Incidentally this is something that the emerging higher education market in China also shares for “…even under the leadership of engineers…institutions have come to understand that an education without the humanities is incomplete”.[22]

These intellectual and cultural exchanges both internally and externally are clearly in the thought of Pope Benedict for - he said - “I want to stress the importance of the education of young intellectuals and of scientific and cultural exchanges between universities in order to propose and enliven integral human development, in Africa and on other continents. In this context I have entrusted to you in spirit, dear young people, the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate in which we recall the urgent need to shape a new humanistic vision.”[23]

Already, formally such physical exchanges exist and are at the centre of much student mobility. These need to be positively promoted. It is important to recognize, for instance,  the Fulbright and Marshall scholarships, the Rhodes Trust and Harkness Trust coming from the USA where  “Study abroad” as a  feature of the higher education environment  and transatlantic cooperation (especially with UK) and the Anglo-phone world for many years.  For example, the number of US students pursing an undergraduate degree in the UK increased 133% between 1996 - 2005 with postgraduates increasing by 28%.  In Europe the Bologna Agreement is furthering continental and intercontinental cooperation as well as increasing exchanges through the Erasmus and Socrates programmes. These are only part of the increasing trend  that has increased the number of nations involved in international exchange since the 1990’s. It is important also to note that Europe and the USA no longer hold a complete monopoly over the study abroad market as China, India, Argentina and Brazil are emerging together with a number of African Nations.

(8) Foreign students as catalysts of dialogue and cultural exchange.

Pope Benedict is also at pains to remind us that such a humanism that promotes charity can come about as “fruitful dialogue between faith and reason cannot but render the work of charity more effective within society, and it constitutes the most appropriate framework for promoting fraternal collaboration between believers and non-believers in their shared commitment to working for justice and the peace of the human family”.[24]  Such dialogue can also lead to learning to value the importance of the principle that “the governance of globalization must be marked by subsidiarity”.[25]   Benedict XVI continues also to speak of such cooperation for development as one that is not solely concerned with a dimension which is economic but also “offers a wonderful opportunity for an encounter between cultures and peoples”. This is very important as the Pope warns that “if the parties to cooperation on the side of economically developed countries — as occasionally happens — fail to take account of their own or others' cultural identity, or the human values that shape it, they cannot enter into meaningful dialogue with the citizens of poor countries”.[26]

Pope Benedict also reminds us that “technologically advanced societies must not confuses their own technological development with presumed cultural superiority, but rather must discover within themselves the oft-forgotten virtues which has made it possible for them to flourish throughout their history”.[27] In this there is a  unique and special witness for the Church for our dialogue and welcome of foreigners in our midst, in any case, “requires that the catholic communities welcoming them should be all the more aware of their own identity, verify their faith in Christ, know well what their faith teaches, rediscover their missionary calling and therefore commit themselves to bear witness to Jesus the Lord and His gospel. This is... the prerequisite for conducting a sincere dialogue that is open, respects all, but is neither ingenuous nor ill equipped”.[28]

We also need to be reminded that the University is above all ‘a cultural laboratory where things happen before they spread to society at large.  Whatever takes place here is like work done in a  laboratory, intended to be carried outside’.[29]

(9) Higher education as a means of development.

Caritas in Veritate is clear in its humanistic principles when it says that “The development of peoples is intimately linked to the development of individuals”[30] and that “Development is impossible without upright men and women, without financiers and politicians whose consciences are finely attuned to the requirements of the common good.”.[31] The development of our universities as athenaeums for developing and preparing young men and women to be the leaders, thinkers and role models of the future is essential.  For the foreign student, this is indispensable to prepare him or her for their return home to country of origin.  Moreover, Pope Benedict  goes further in calling for the active participation of the poor themselves and effective involvement of civil society, Catholic groups and mediating institutions in the design and carrying out of development strategies. Poor persons, communities, and nations have the right and duty to actively participate in the planning and implementation of development programmes designed to promote human development and reduce poverty.  Once again in this the universities have a  part to play because  “Universities and colleges have a  profound responsibility to ensure that they supply young citizens from around the world with the deep understanding, and the intellectual tools, which they need to become wise leaders of commerce, industry and politics in a  world that is at once conceptually borderless and in some ways more fraught than ever by national conflicts.  Without that capacity, there is a danger that this sense of being a  citizen of the planet could engender a sense lacking personal roots or values, or to an elitist blindness to the lived realities of much of the world.”[32]

(10) Foreign students as migrants.

It is worth also reflecting, albeit briefly, on the contribution that foreign students play within the context of migratory flows. No. 62 of Caritas in Veritate reminds us that it is  “a striking phenomenon because of the sheer numbers of people involved, the social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems it raises, and the dramatic challenges it poses to nations and the international community”.[33]  Foreign students, can be considered as part of these migratory movements, if only on a temporary basis.  However, they too have their own impact in a  multiplicity of ways.

It is well known that an increased standard of living and the employment rate in a destination country tends to stimulate migration, while a higher standard of living and growth in the source country are push factors for emigration.  There is also evidence on the importance of existing migrants which can ease the arrival of newcomers helping them with settling in, jobs, housing and introducing them to an existing social network.  Migration studies in general have focused on permanent migrants, however there is little understanding of what happens when flows are temporary, or begin as such, as would be the case also with foreign students.  An important research in this context is a working paper produced by the Swiss Institute for Business Cycle research in 2006 giving an empirical analysis of student flows with special reference to the United States of America.[34]  Whilst this is now four years old, I think some of their findings still hold good.  Their study found that a 10% increase in student flows leads to an increase in immigration of between 0.3 – 0.9%.  However they were not clear whether it was students actually staying in their host country or the impact of other student-related factors that were driving those results.  As one example, students may tell others of their experiences and have other networks akin to the use of other migrants. Therefore they conclude, that studying abroad can lead to a migration that would not happen otherwise.  This may indeed be the route taken by those who cannot find any other means, legal or otherwise,  to emigrate.  The consequences of these findings suggest that for countries who wish to increase their pool of skilled labour and brain economy, foreign students can be an efficient way of attracting such future migration, with the addition of the revenues received from tuition fees which would help the financing of the universities.

(11) Foreign students and the challenge to linguistic norms.

One of the features of youth mobility has been the influence and subsequent changes in the means of communication. Of particular note should be the rapid use of the English language as a medium of instruction, not just in the traditional Anglophone universities, but within Europe and beyond.  In the 1950 the Netherlands became the first non-English speaking country to teach in that language.  Today it can boast 1,300 programmes.  Germany, likewise, now offers 500 degrees in English, and in Denmark all courses are offered in English.  Even France has found that by opening up courses in the English language it has increased its flow of foreign students.  But perhaps the greatest revolution can be found within China, for not only are Chinese students learning English as a second language, with the primary aim of using it to gain entry to study abroad, but over three hundred institutions in China itself are offering courses taught in English.  It is further suggested that the emergence of the country as a superpower in the twenty-first Century, not least in the field of Education, will have a  profound effect and change on the way that the English language is used both in China itself as well as internationally.[35] In fact, recent research indicates that there are now more Chinese learning English than Americans.  For example, last year 98,510 Chinese graduate and undergraduate students poured into US colleges and universities.  In fact, the national 11% growth in undergraduate enrollments was driven largely by a 60% increase by China itself.

(12) Students of the future.

Today’s students have been called the ‘First globals’ shaped by the borderless world of the internet, social networking and e-mail. Video-conferencing, “telepresence” and easy travel is constantly giving new forms to research and university co-operation with virtual communities and virtual learning becoming part of the curriculum.  Increasingly, for many, to be a ‘foreign student’ will be considered part of the norm of a period of study.  In the foreseeable future, the one way traffic of students from the third world to the first will develop into a more ‘two-way’ one with students taking advantage of the new and emerging universities in what have been hitherto unknown and inaccessible institutions.  However, for the foreseeable future the US will continue to be the highest player in attracting students from beyond its borders followed closely by the UK and Australia.  However, the next decade will see the continuing emergence of new countries, especially those who choose to use the English language, among them Malaysia, Singapore and china who are transforming mobility patterns.  Students choosing places in which to study will be looking to targeted advantages and innovate patterns, that involve not just new curricula but also more practical aspects such visa schemes, easier immigration procedures and work opportunities. Alongside this global competitiveness, the strategies of the Bologna Agreement in Europe will also challenge the global market-place, not just inside Europe but beyond as the European structure of higher education seeks to draw a greater share of the student population.

Despite challenging and vibrant  initiatives, still today many students from developing countries – and others - still face enormous challenges to study abroad. There remain many difficulties in access to mobility, such as financial problems, administrative obstacles and lack of clear information.  Moreover, access to mobility continues in many countries to be more a question of economic, social and educational background rather than an individual predisposition to study abroad.  Student mobility has hitherto been often a tool of individual development – personal, social and financial as well as that as educational.  Today no institution is an island, nor is a student. Foreign students themselves are central to any university’s attempt to globalize its campus and community, and are the primary reason why many universities are embracing internationalization and the consequences that ensue from such directions.  These students are also an important “visible sign and an effective reminder of that universality which is a constituent element of the Catholic Church”.[36]  As such they require a distinctive yet integrated pastoral care within our universities because “The pastoral care commitment in human mobility dilates the frontiers of the mind and of the heart, it demolishes prejudices which create limitations and shows us how the presence of the other can be a precious opportunity to help us understand our own narrowness and to make us discover the beauty of fraternity, an opportunity to create respectful relationships, cordially welcoming the other. In any case, it is a pastoral care”.[37]

(13) Conclusion.

There has, unfortunately, not been time to do justice to this vast subject in the brief time allotted to me today.  Our universities are on the move, in transition and change and part of this development is due to people on the move themselves.  Foreign students are increasingly becoming a valuable resource throughout higher education.  No longer are they seen simply as ‘extras’, financial commodities supporting and sustaining existing home students, rather they have become a positive opportunity to internationalize institutions as they expand into a globalized world.  These students are valuable assets of cultural diversity and exchange, bringing with them opportunities for broadening and enriching the university environment on a multiplicity of levels.  They can be vital elements in living out the ‘new humanism’ which is essential if our future world is to live charity in truth and that we are to experience a solidarity and justice for all persons.  They also carry a future for their own lands, especially to those that are in the process of multi-faceted development, offering them new intellectual, cultural and spiritual insights.  Above all “It is essential to recall that these young men and women bring a richness to be welcomed, enabling the community to appreciate that diversity and unity are complimentary, not contradictory”.[38]

However, I would like a last word to go to our Instruction Erga migrants caritas Christi, which I warmly commend as a framework to any of you who are involved in welcoming students into your colleges and institutions. “The ‘foreigner’ is God’s messenger who surprises us and interrupts the regularity and logic of daily life, bringing near those who are far away. In ‘foreigners’ the Church sees Christ who ‘pitches His tent among us’ (cf. Jn 1:14) and who ‘knocks at our door’ (cf. Ap 3:20). This meeting – characterised by attention, welcome, sharing and solidarity, by the protection of the rights of migrants and of commitment to evangelise – reveals the constant solicitude of the Church, which discovers authentic values in migrants and considers them a great human resource.”[39]

Thank you!

NOTES

[1] POPE BENEDICT XVI, Encylical letter ‘Caritas in Veritate, (29th June 2009), No.42:  HYPERLINK "http://www.vatican.va/holy_" http://www.vatican.va/holy_ father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

[2] JOHN PAUL II, Ad limina Address to the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical regions of Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee, 30th May 1998, No. 4:  HYPERLINK "http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1998/may/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe _19980530 _" http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1998/may/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe _19980530 _ ad-limina-usa-vi_en.html

[3] POPE BENEDICT XVI, l.c., No.19.

[4] Ibid., No.25.

[5] Ibid., No. 61.

[6] Ibid., No. 62.

[7] Cf. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, Division of science resource statistics, 2007.  Asia’s rising Science and Technology Strength: Comparative indicators for Asia, the European Union, and the United States.  NSF 07-319, Arlington, VA.

[8] POPE BENEDICT XVI, op.cit., No.62.

[9] RICHARD C. LEVIN (President of Yale University),  Globalization and the university, Speech given at the Poder Conference, Washington DC, 8th  November 2006:  HYPERLINK "http://opa.yale.edu/president/message.aspx?id=9" http://opa.yale.edu/president/message.aspx?id=9

[10] Ibid.

[11] POPE BENEDICT XVI, op.cit., No 72.

[12] Ibid., No. 5.

[13] Ibid., No 19.

[14] Ibid., No. 78.

[15] Ibid., No. 18; (cf. AGOSTINO MARCHETTO, L’Enciclica ‘Caritas in Veriate’ e la pastorale per i Migranti, speech given at a meeting of the Foundation ‘Migrantes’, 5.10.09, awaiting publication)

[16] POPE JOHN PAUL II, Address to University Professors, Saturday 9th September 2000:  HYPERLINK "http://www.vatican" http://www.vatican. va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/2000/jul-sep/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20000909_jubilteachers_en.html

[17] POPE JOHN PAUL II,   Homily for the Jubilee of University Professors, Sunday 10th  September 2000: http://www.    vatican. va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20000910_jubi-univ-teachers_en.html

[18] ID., Apostolic Consitution, “Ex corde Ecclesiae”, No. 1:  HYPERLINK "http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_" http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_ constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae_en.html

[19] Ibid., No. 2.

[20] JOHN PAUL II, Ad limina Address to the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical regions of Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee, 30th May 1998, No. 3:  HYPERLINK "http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1998/may/documents/hf _jp-ii _spe_19980530_ad-limina-usa-vi_en.html" http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1998/may/documents/hf _jp-ii _spe_19980530_ad-limina-usa-vi_en.html ; cf. POPE BENEDICT XVI, Lectio Divina on the occasion of his visit to the Pontifical Roman Seminary, 12.02.10:  HYPERLINK "http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2010/february /documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20100212_seminario-romano-mag_en.html" http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2010/february /documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20100212_seminario-romano-mag_en.html. See also POPE BENEDICT XVI, Lecio Divina with the priests of the Diocese of Rome, 18.02.10:  HYP ERLINK "http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2010/ february/documents/" http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2010/ february/documents/hf_ ben-xvi_spe_20100218_parroci-roma_it.html

[21] Cf.  AIDAN NICOLS OP, G.K. Chesterton, ‘Theologian’:  HYPERLINK "http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:QxnZFcCrQ_YJ" http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:QxnZFcCrQ_YJ:  HYPERLINK "http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/anichols/nichols-chesterton/nichols-chesterton.htm+%E2%80%9Catmosphere%" www.christendom-awake.org/pages/anichols/nichols-chesterton/nichols-chesterton.htm+%E2%80%9Catmosphere% E2%80%9D+G.K.+Chesteron+fifty+percent+of+Education.&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

[22] WILLIAM C. KIRKBY, On Chinese, European and American Universities” Deadlus 137.7 (summer 2008):  HYPERLINK "http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/daed.2008.137.3.139?cookieSet=1&journalCode=daed" http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/daed.2008.137.3.139?cookieSet=1&journalCode=daed

[23] POPE BENEDICT XVI, Address on the occasion of the Marian Prayer Vigil “with Africa and for Africa”, Saturday 10th  October 2009:  HYPERLINK "http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/october/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_ 20091010" http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/october/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_ 20091010 _rosario-africa_en.html

[24] ID., Encylical Letter “Caritas in Veritate, No. 57.

[25] Ibid. (cf. AGOSTINO MARCHETTO, L’Enciclica ‘Caritas in Veriate’ e la pastorale per i Migranti, l.c.)

[26] Ibid., No. 59.

[27] Ibid.

[28] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF MIGRANTS AND ITINERANT PEOPLE, Erga migrantes caritas Christi, No.60, People on the Move, No. 95, August 2004, p.143.

[29] Cf. ANDRÈS ARTEAGA MANIEU, “Christian Presence in the University World”, in Youth and University: witnessing to Christ in the University World, ed. Pontifical Council for the Laity , Vatican City Press, 2005, 195 (quoted by MICHAEL MILLER,Tthe Pastoral Care of Foreign Students: Evangelization, Dialogue and Procalamtion,  People on the Move, April 2007, suppl. 103, p.53.

[30] POPE BENEDICT XVI, op. cit., No.68.

[31] Ibid., No. 71.

[32] US/UK STUDY GROUP, Higher Education and Collaboration in a Global Context – Building a Global Civil Society, July 2009, p.18:  HYPERLINK "http://www.international.ac.uk/resources/Final%20Report.pdf" http://www.international.ac.uk/resources/Final%20Report.pdf

[33] POPE BENEDICT XVI, op. cit., No. 62.

[34] Cf. AXEL DREHER & PANU POUTVAARA, Student Flows and Migration:An Empirical Analysis, Swiss Institute for
Business Cycle Research, July 2006: http://ideas.repec.org/p/kof/wpskof/06-142.html

[35] Cf. PROF. JOSEPH LOBIANCO & DR. JANE ORTON China and English: Globalisation and the Dilemmas of Identity, (quoted in article, ‘New form of English emerges in China’: http://universitypost.dk/brief/new-form-english-emerges-china)

[36] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF MIGRANTS AND ITINERANT PEOPLE, op. cit., No. 17.

[37] AGOSTINO MARCHETTO, The Migrant family: Challenges today and the way forward for the Church, December 2007: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/pom2007-105/rc_pc_migrants_pom105_migr-family-marchetto.html

[38] MICHAEL MILLER, op.cit., p.54

[39] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF MIGRANTS AND ITINERANT PEOPLE, op. cit., No. 101.