BALANGA CITY – Diocese of Balanga Bishop Ruperto C. Santos was elected as member of the International Catholic Migration Commission.
The election was held during the culmination of ICMC plenary assembly. Bishop Santos is now the President of ICMC Asia Oceania Working Group.
“I was elected as member of the ICMC governing committee council representing Asia. And now we go back home to work for His people, our flock. Oh dear God lead us…,” Santos said on his Facebook post.
The ICMC is a registered non-profit organization working in the areas of refugee and migration issues. It was founded in 1951, in the wake of the massive displacement caused by the Second World War.
The ICMC was initiated by the joint efforts of Pope Pius XII, Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini (Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and later Pope Paul VI), and American layman James J. Norris, ICMC was created to coordinate the work of Catholic organizations in responding to the needs of migrants, refugees and displaced persons, as well as to advocate in the intergovernmental and governmental institutions on their behalf.
ICMC was officially granted public juridical status by the Holy See in 2008. It works in close collaboration with the Secretary of State of the Vatican and with the Migrants and Refugees Section of the newly-established Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development.
At present, ICMC coordinates a network of structures mandated by the Catholic Bishops Conferences worldwide and has staff and programs in over 50 countries.
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, ICMC has affiliated entities in Brussels (ICMC Europe), Washington DC and Boston (ICMC Inc.), and operational offices in Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey.