The Church Fathers facing the challenge of migrants

This article by Michel Stavrou examines the attitude of the Church Fathers toward migration, drawing on a historical and theological study covering the patristic period from the second to the ninth century. The author adopts an approach combining scriptural exegesis, analysis of patristic sources, and historical contextualization. He shows that the Fathers, themselves often migrants, did not develop a systematic theory of migration, but did develop a theology of hospitality built on two pillars: the condition of foreignness as a constitutive dimension of Christian identity, and the identification of Christ with the welcomed stranger. The article makes a twofold contribution: it reconstructs the concrete practices of institutional welcome — xenodocheia, the Basiliad — and demonstrates that ancient Christian hospitality, far from being a mere moral prescription, constitutes a central ecclesiological act, thereby offering solid theological foundations for contemporary reflection on the reception of migrants.