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“Through honest dialogue and shared exploration, students engaged with migration not only as a political, climate-related, or social issue, but as a deeply spiritual and human experience that echoes across scriptures and histories,” reads the message. “Before arriving at a shared interfaith position, reflections were offered from each tradition, drawing on Jewish, Christian, and Islamic texts and teachings.”
The message also defines hospitality as not simply a social obligation but as a sacred expression.
“We gathered not just to learn but to speak with a unified voice on one of the defining moral issues of our time: migration,” the message reads. “Our scriptures call us to protect the stranger, welcome the displaced, and uphold the dignity of all.”
Yet today, the message notes, migrants face hostile policies, closed borders, and dehumanizing systems. “This is a moral failure,” the message reads. “We believe migration must be met not with fear, but with faith-driven solidarity.”
The message affirms that migration is a human right, not a crime. “Climate change, war, and inequality are urgent causes of displacement that demand global responsibility,” reads the text. “Faith traditions must lead with compassion, not complicity.”
The message also urges governments, multilateral bodies, and nongovernmental organizations to include faith perspectives in shaping migration policy not as decoration, but as partners.
“This calling also extends to how we receive people of other faiths into our communities,” the message reads. “Let this statement not end here, but ripple outward in policy rooms, places of worship, and grassroots movements.”
Rev. Dr Benjamin Simon, academic dean of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey and director of the WCC Commission for Ecumenical Education and Formation, stressed that "At Bossey Ecumenical Institute, interfaith dialogue is the soil of peace, where hearts meet beyond differences and discover shared humanity".
"To conclude the course we planted a fruit tree, as the tree carries the same hope - a silent prayer for the future. This act teaches patience amongst humans, unity in our broken world, and care for Gods creation, reminding us that peace, like a tree, grows slowly but shelters generations", added Simon.
