The Church and Migration: The Role of Faith in Social Integration and Behavior Change of the Roma People

ABSTRACT: Roma or Gypsies are originally a migratory people who today are spread across several continents and living in many countries, especially on the continent of Europe. Several sources indicate that 8 million of Roma live in Eastern Europe. Romania has the largest Roma population in the area, over 535,000 persons according to the latest official estimates. The changes that have occurred over the last 20 years in Europe Central and Eastern Europe, it made a large number of Roma people migrate to Western European countries. This raised a new kind of issues in Western, but also in Eastern Europe, the authorities sometimes, reaching the point of no longer find solutions in the management of Roma issues. This paper proposes that we look not only at state responsibilities to solve these issues but also to the church responsibilities to spread the message that can change their behavior.

KEY WORDS: Immigration, Emigration, Migration, Gypsy, Roma people, Culture Church Mission.