Several Asian Bishops' Conferences promote the Exodus programme of pastoral training on migration.
The Exodus programme began in 2001 at the Scalabrini Migration Studies Centre (SMSC) in Manila. To date, it has involved more than 500 pastoral workers from Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, East Timor, Japan and Taiwan.
The last edition was held in Manila in 2024 with the promotion of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the Migrant Commission of India and the support of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD).
Topics covered in the Exodus programme include: understanding migration in Asia, the challenge of religious diversity in migration, migration studies mentioned in the Bible, the theology of migration in Church teaching, the history of migration ministry, the role of the laity in helping migrants, migrant workers’ ministry, seafarers’ and fishers’ ministry, advocacy and networking on migration, migrants’ human rights and human trafficking.
The Exodus programme is easily replicable in different countries because it offers tools that can be applied in different contexts and facilitates networking between Bishops’ Conferences. In fact, there are plans to implement this training at regional level for the Indian Ocean countries (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh).