23 Mar 2016
By The Record
Around 1,000 people from varied faith and social justice backgrounds gathered for the Palm Sunday Walk for Justice for Refugees on 20 March, with a strong Catholic contingent reflecting on the need to show compassion to people seeking asylum.
The event began at St George’s Cathedral in central Perth, where attendees listened to a number of speakers, including paediatrician, Dr Gervase Chaney; law student and former refugee, Rahila Haidari; Sri Lankan poet and former refugee, Ravi; Students for Refugees representative, Michelle Bui; and Archdiocese of Perth Catholic priest, Father Greg Donovan.
Fr Greg spoke of his experience providing accommodation to five Iranian asylum seekers at his Kalamunda parish, and the importance of getting to know these people and their stories.
“I have been enriched so much by learning their names, hearing their stories, hearing their frustrations, their joy when they receive Protection Visas,” he said.
He added that one of the five asylum seekers had not received a Protection Visa, and was severely affected by this, having no access to work or Medicare support, although some doctors had provided medical and mental health support pro bono.
Director of the Archdiocesan Justice Ecology and Development Office, Carol Mitchell, said that compassion for refugees was an important focus for the Church since the release of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s Social Justice Statement in September last year.
She said the statement – which covers 2015 and 2016 – was inspired in part by Pope Francis’ response to the drowning of asylum seekers at Lampedusa near Sicily three years ago.
“The Social Justice Statement says ‘For Pope Francis, the boats were a symptom of a wider lack of justice and compassion in national and international life. The problem was not primarily one of people smugglers or of protecting borders. It was a problem of not valuing people properly’,” Ms Mitchell said.
“The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, through the Statement, reminds us of our global and personal call to action – by responding to the call of Jesus.
“Pope Francis reminds us that the presence of Christ transforms the darkness of human despair into the light of hope.”
Ms Mitchell said Archbishop Timothy Costelloe had reinforced this message by urging a ‘better way’ of responding to asylum seekers, instead of the government’s current policy of offshore detention.
“In August 2014, His Grace, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, demonstrated great leadership by publicly speaking in support of a ‘better way’ to the harsh regime of immigration detention centres for asylum seekers,” she said.
“With other Christian faith leaders, an impassioned statement was made for families to be taken out of detention given the harsh realities and the lack of care being shown to mothers, babies and infants.”
As well as encouraging mercy towards people seeking asylum, the Social Justice Statement also focused on national discussion of the issue, noting a contradiction between the welcome suggested in our national anthem, and the language used towards asylum seekers by media and government.
“The Statement calls for a new global response of compassion,” she said.
“Our Catholic Social Teaching reminds us that we are all created in the image of God and are therefore endowed with dignity – but this carries with it certain rights and responsibilities.
“This includes recognising that the rights of individuals must be balanced with the wider common good.”
Please click here to Read More…
