JRS-UK Community Blog

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Rome, 20 June 2015 – Refugees do not choose to become refugees. They become refugees out of compulsion. They experience separation from loved ones, starvation, discrimination, fear, trauma, indefinite incarceration and worst of all, the demonization of their human dignity. They hope not only for survival, but for a peaceful and decent life, free from persecution and discrimination. Even when they eventually do make it to a safe refuge, it is very hard for them to restore their lives by themselves. During this time, their hope for education and equal opportunity often fades away.

My name is Antony Mukui*; I'm 28 years old and I come from Kenya. My story, though tragic, is sadly not unique.

I should say that compared to the millions of refugees across the world, my journey has been through God's grace a fairly easy one.

It was the night of 5 November 2013, when my family and I were attacked in our home by a gang of about 12 men armed with crude weapons: machetes, axes, knifes, etc. I was outside of our house talking to my cousin Joseph inquiring why the electricity shut off. As we talked, this gang confronted us. They took me hostage and ordered my cousin to go back to sleep. Little did I know that was the last time I would see him alive.

I was led to the house and the ordeal began. All the while, they were looking for my mother, who was then an employee in one of Kenya's security services. This ordeal lasted just about an hour, and at the end of it all I was injured terribly. My young sister, 12 at the time, had gone through an attempted rape; my 92 year old grandmother had been harassed and traumatized; and my friend and colleague Peter was seriously injured and had to spend two months in the hospital undergoing reconstructive surgery on his mouth.

As you can all imagine after such a traumatic event, we lived our lives in fear, sleeping in shifts at night. While the local police guarded our compound, we stood watch too. The investigations were going nowhere; and after four months of this, we made the decision as a family to leave the country that we had called home for all our lives into an uncertain future.

A new home. We arrived in Italy on 21 January 2014. Based on the recommendation of by the Kenyan Superior of the Jesuits and with permission of the Superior General of the Jesuits, Franciscan Cappuchin priests took us in their San Lorenzo di Brandisi college, where they usually house foreign students who are studying in Rome. We have been living with them ever since.

They have helped us not only by offering us a roof over our heads but also a place to heal our inner wounds by providing us with spiritual counseling and allowing us to be part of their family. We eat meals together, have discussions, play football and watch games together from time to time.

This transition has not been easy on my family, leaving everything behind: a good house, good jobs, a car, all our friends and family. The life of a refugee is not an easy one; there are many challenges that one has to go through including the lack of employment, housing and proper documentation.

Rebuilding through faith. Worse for me is the feeling of not belonging, of not being human. As a refugee, every day you cling on to the hope that the next day will be better than yesterday. This hope and our faith in God is what have kept our family together over the past year, despite all the difficult times that we have faced. It is the faith that as long as we have our lives, we can always rebuild and achieve greater things.

Every day, I am inspired by the stories of my fellow refugees that I meet from all over the world. Many of them are young men and women like myself who have undergone so much pain and suffering in their young lives, but who all have two things in common – hope and determination to make something of their lives despite all the challenges they face.

Ultimately, I must say the story of a refugee is a story of great courage. It is a story of a people who refuse to give up when everything around them seems to crumble, who chose to hope when it would be so easy to give up.

I challenge all of you to look at refugees as your fellow brothers and sisters, as human beings.

I believe that we can all do our part to help those who are suffering. As Pope Francis reminds us, we must all be able first to see, and then help others to see that migrants do not represent a problem to be solved. They are brothers and sisters who need help and should therefore be welcomed and loved.

Each one of us must answer the Holy Father's call not only by helping to provide housing, food, employment and education, but more importantly to tackle the root causes that cause people to flee and find durable solutions to those problems.

Opposing the war in Vietnam, Martin Luther King Jr., said "a time comes when silence is betrayal." That time I believe has come for us as far as the refugee crisis is concerned. The time has come for all of us to not only speak up, but to act. This I believe is our duty not only as Christians but as human beings, and in doing so, we will love our fellow man and "Push forward, not back."

*Antony currently volunteers at the Jesuit Refugee Service International Office

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Paul Anthony, a Jesuit scholastic and member of the Hurtado Jesuit Community that lives with JRS UK, reflects on a recent conversation about migration.

I was fortunate to attend the session on ‘Migration Conversation’ by Br Stephen Power SJ at the Hurtado Jesuit Centre. It was very informative and the statistics presented were an eye opener. Later, we had a discussion in different groups and I was very much drawn to their sharings. Some of the participants were migrants themselves. Many shared their feelings of sentiments, and what they did with migrants and refugees. What they said was inspiring and heart touching and came from deep down themselves.

When I was in Andhra Province (one of the South Asian Provinces of Society of Jesus), I used to share more often about JRS and its mission to the novice candidates, and in my Vocation Promotion talks to them. The little knowledge I was gleamed from books and newsletters of our congregation I never had met any refugee or volunteer working in JRS. Now I am fortunate enough to be placed in the Hurtado Jesuit Community, in London, as a part of my theology studies. JRS is part of Hurtado Jesuit community’s mission, now I can meet people involved in refugee works as well as asylum seekers and refugees as well. My interaction with refugees is short but it has created a huge impact on me. Simple ‘smiles’, ‘hellos’ and ‘goodbyes’ produce ripples of happiness and joy in their faces. I am not able to advise them on legal matters but simply present myself and share the rapport of a mutual smile. My experience has been similar to that of all those who shared during the discussions, though their sharing has enriched my understanding and feelings towards refugees and migrants.

It is not qualification and experience which matter to have but a simple mind and heart to reciprocate ‘Hi’, ‘Hello’ to those who are in need. ‘When I was hungry, you gave me to eat and when I was thirsty, you gave me to drink’. People not merely long for the satisfaction of physical needs but also for emotional and relational needs. They are hungry for the food of communication and communion and thirsty to receive the water of compassion and acceptance. They desire a space to share their feelings.

The sharing was a great breakthrough and showed me how I need to respond and grow spiritually. It made me realise that the best present I could give to the refugees is my pleasure at our presence together. I have discovered ways to make others happy and to be happy myself.

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Jo Siedlecka from Independent Catholic News shares her experience of this year's Migrants Mass at Southwark Cathedral.

There was a sea of colourful banners, flags and parasols at St George's Cathedral, Southwark on Monday as an international congregation of more than 1,500 people, many in their national dress, processed in for the annual Migrants Mass celebrating the Feast of St Joseph the Worker.

Organised by London's three Catholic dioceses: Brentwood, Southwark and Westminster, with the ethnic chaplaincies and Justice and Peace Commission, and the Tablet, which celebrates its 175th anniversary this year, the chief celebrant was the Archbishop of Southwark, Most Revd Peter Smith. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, Bishop Alan Williams of Brentwood and many priests concelebrated.

The Mass was attended by ambassadors from Libya, Ethiopia and Lithuania, Justice Minister, Lib Dem Simon Hughes, who has served as MP for Southwark and Bermondsey for many years, Lib Dem Sarah Teather who led a campaign to stop the detention of child refugees, borough mayors and councillors, from around the capital.

Music throughout the service, led by Francis Novillo, included hymns and songs from Cameroon, the USA, Australia, Slovakia, China and Uganda.

The Bidding Prayers were led by pupils from Notre Dame RC Girls' School in seven languages, including Tamil, Tagalog and Yoruba.

Welcoming the congregation, Archbishop Peter Smith described the Mass as "a joint venture of prayerful support for migrants in our city."

In his homily, Archbishop Peter reflected on the day's Gospel in which Jesus is rejected by the people of his hometown of Nazareth. He described how the Holy Family were refugees - forced to flee Bethlehem when Herod began killing newborn baby boys: "We have few details but we assume they lived in peace until they returned to their homeland, settling, as St Matthew's Gospel tells us, in a town called Nazareth. Jesus would have been very small when they left but I'm sure Mary and Joseph would have told him the story as he got older. The irony of his rejection by the people he lived with I'm sure would have been in his mind when he began his public ministry. Rejected by the people he lived with but in the years previous to that accepted in a foreign land."

The Archbishop pointed out that Jesus' public ministry it has its core focus compassion, loving kindness and mercy - care towards the oppressed, the exploited, the poor.

He said Pope Francis has repeatedly called for countries to adopt a more "generous openness" to migrants, saying: "I am a pastor of a Church with no borders."

The Archbishop rebuked those with "blood on their hands" who tolerate, even passively, human trafficking. He had particular criticism of the UK's detention centres for migrants, saying these were "stripping them of their human dignity" and he expressed alarm at the crisis of boat refugees in the Mediterranean.

Archbishop Peter went on to call for prayers for politicians. "We must pray for them" he said. "They have a very difficult job."

Migrants bring new life and vibrancy to British society and our Church, the Archbishop said.

He concluded with an upbeat story of British Olympic runner Mo Farrah who came from Somalia as a refugee at the age of eight. Asked whether he would prefer to run for Somalia rather than Britain, Mo said: " Look mate - this is my country. When I put on my GB vest I feel proud."

After the Mass there was a large reception and spread of international food organised by the ethnic chaplaincies and the Tablet.

Antony, a student from Iraq, told ICN: "The Church in London has been a great comfort and support to me and my family. My parish makes us all feel welcome. I don't know what our future holds but God willing we will go back to our country one day."

A young nurse from Slovenia, Grazyna said: "My experience here has been good. My colleagues and neighbours seem very accepting and I'm happy to be here although I miss my family."

The Feast of St Joseph the Worker was instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955. The Mass for Migrants has been celebrated in London every May Bank Holiday since 2006 when it was introduced by the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor.

JRS Volunteer Marguerite recounts her enjoyment of attending a special event for migrants this month.

‘The Mass for Migrants has been celebrated every May bank holiday since 2006, when it was first introduced by the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor; at the suggestion of London Citizens. The Cardinal’s call at that Mass is for a more just treatment of migrants rooted in Catholic Social Teaching. Each year since then the event has reminded London of the invaluable contribution of so many migrants to the city’s society and economy. It offers a profound witness to the Church’s insistence that the dignity of the human person is God-given and never withdrawn and reminds us of the deep resonance with refugee and asylum seekers.’ (Extract from introduction in Mass booklet)

It was my privilege to be able to be there yesterday at a packed Westminster Cathedral. Before the Mass commenced the colourful and joyful procession of different migrant communities with their banners, music and dressed in their national clothes was indeed an Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia celebration. Bishop Patrick Lynch, one of the auxiliary bishops of Southwark, concelebrated with approximately fifty priests from Westminster, Southwark and Brentwood dioceses. It was noticeable that almost a third of the priests were from outside Europe. A blessing for our Church here in England and Wales today. VIPs included mayors/mayoresses from different boroughs of London, MPs, ambassadors of various countries and representatives from other faiths and Christian denominations. But THE VIPs were the migrants, each and everyone present from all over the world not only in this great city of London but in UK. Bidding prayers were in Polish, Mandarin, Swahili, French, Portuguese, Tagalog and English, a wee taste of the languages spoken in London churches. When the Our Father was prayed each according to their own native tongue, it did remind me of Pentecost! Poignantly, given recent events in his country, the Communion anthem was performed by a Ukranian soloist.

It would not do justice to Patrick Lynch’s profound homily to try to share what he said and I wish I had a copy to write it here. He quoted strongly from Evangelii Gaudium. He highlighted two main areas: Human Trafficking and Children of undocumented migrant workers, ‘no way in and no way out’ in their plight. Hopefully those present who have the clout to do something will not turn a deaf ear. As a volunteer at L’Arche and Jesuit Refugee Services, I have no clout, but that does not exempt me from not turning a deaf ear to God’s message for me. I found myself inspired, challenged, disturbed and consoled, all at the same time as I left the Cathedral and made my way to Colnbrook detention center for my weekly visit there.

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The Globalisation of Indifference

A post based on Pope Francis’s homily from the mass he celebrated on the Italian island of Lampedusa on 8th July 2013.

Who will weep for them?