God the foreigner: questioning the migratory reality in theological formation

It has been said that migrations define our time (Castles; Miller, 2004). It is certainly not a problem exclusive to this century, but it is significant and unparalleled that, in recent years and in spite of the restrictions to mobility imposed by the pandemic, there has been a constant increase in the number of forced migrants and refugees. The process of globalisation of communications and information has contributed to aggravate this problem that affects the entire world.
This chapter reflects on the place of migration and the condition of migrants as a theological problem. Theology is the reflection
God the foreigner: questioning the migratory reality in theological formation
Capítulo 5
Loida Sardiñas Iglesias, Colombia
“Try, just try / For a minute, just a minute / Put yourself in their shoes / (Ignore the dead bodies, please) / What do you feel? Tell me what you feel / Climbing over the barbed wire / jumping over the ditches / Climbing the walls / Falling in the sea, in the sea (like chaff in the wheat) / What do you hear? Tell me what you hear in the darkness.”
The song “La línea (The line)”, from the album El árbol y el bosque (the tree and the forest), Rozalén, 2021
(loose translation)
“I was a stranger and you invited me in”
Jesus of Nazareth, Mt 25:35

of the revelation of God who, for love of humanity, moves, migrates, and is incarnate in the world, making the human response and closeness to God possible. This is the first moment of theological action: it arises from the original migration. From this perspective, that of the Migrant God, theology is a new interpretation of the reality of migrant people, families, generations, life stories, faces, and narratives. The objective is thus to highlight that even when churches assist migrants in their ample and frequent pastoral work, there is a need for a greater biblical-theological and pastoral reflection regarding the condition of migrants, and a permanent acceptance of migration theology within intercultural theological education.