The Orthodox Church’s Role in Healing Human Dignity in the Context of Migration: Examining the Case of the Romanian Diaspora in Italy
摘要
This chapter examines the role of the Romanian Orthodox Church in healing human dignity and addressing the challenges faced by Romanian immigrants in Italy. Migration is approached as both a transformative journey and a theological phenomenon, which presents distinct spiritual and social challenges for Orthodox immigrants and the broader diaspora. The chapter explores concepts such as “soft backsliding”, the “Italian syndrome”, and “conceptual metaphor” to analyze how migration influences the identity, cultural heritage, and spiritual life of Romanian Orthodox believers abroad. The study highlights the Church’s dual role as a preserver of tradition and an adaptive force for integration, particularly through the promotion of a theology of dignity. This theological framework may provide pastoral strategies to strengthen immigrants’ spiritual resilience and support their identity negotiation in the context of migration.