Embracing the potential of foresight in migration policy, North Macedonia has embarked on a ground-breaking journey to institutionalize anticipatory governance through extensive capacity-building activities, imparting foresight methods to stakeholders responsible for shaping migration policies. This research provides a comprehensive overview, detailing the initiative’s origins, alignment with the Resolution on Migration Policy 2021–2025, and the accompanying Action Plan. The study assesses the impact and potential of the Anticipatory Governance in Migration in North Macedonia when fully integrated with the action plan, which focuses on data-based management that oversees the migration policy resolution and the migration policy milieu. Through a comprehensive analysis of the foresight interventions, training programs, and stakeholder engagements, this study unveils the potential impact of forward-looking planning on North Macedonia’s migration policy landscape. The conclusion and recommendations have broader significance, extending beyond North Macedonia to serve as a model for other countries confronting migration challenges in our rapidly changing world.

Churches’ positions and preferences in social policy are often described in the literature as fixed over time. The article challenges this assumption. In particular, it shows how the Italian Catholic Church (CC) changed over time its position toward social assistance and migration policies. In relation to social assistance, the CC has shifted from an antagonist approach to public intervention to the support of a universal public minimum income scheme. At a time of increasing aversion towards migrants, the Catholic Church has also become one of the few core actors in Italian society advocating explicitly for more welcoming migration policies and criticising national governments, especially the populist ones. Four factors explain these changes: the way institutions have worked in this policy field, CC material interests, how new ideas on social rights and social justice have been re-elaborated within the CC and its moral authority in politics.