Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference: Building Communities of Belonging and Hope

In partnership with the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) the Ford Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity is planning to host the 2020 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative (CIII) Conference- an annual convening of a diverse network of Catholic institutions devoted to advancing the integration, empowerment, and well-being of immigrants. The theme of this year’s conference is, ‘Building Communities of Belonging and Hope.’ The CIII conference was initiated in 2014 by CMS to provide participants the tools, contacts and inspiration to do more and better work with immigrants. This year’s conference will bring together academics, practitioners, and policymakers in a common cause of identifying what might be considered successful immigrant integration programs, with special though not exclusive focus on the efforts of the Catholic Church in different parts of the world. We propose that this conference represents a significant step toward making Notre Dame and, particularly, the Kellogg Institute, an important center for the comparative study of migration and systematic reflection on how the Catholic Church can become a more effective agent of social solidarity and vibrant democratic institutions in societies rapidly becoming more diverse.