Jesuit Refugee Service
Father General has called on us all to redouble our efforts to welcome those who suffer because of the need to migrate and to work together to build ‘a community of life’.Speaking in Rome before the World Day of Refugees and Migrants (Sunday), Fr Arturo Sosa SJ was addressing refugees, volunteers and staff from the Centro Astalli, the headquarters of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Italy. He urged all who support refugees and migrants to put pressure on governments, especially in...
Father General will be meeting and praying with refugees and those who work with them this afternoon, as they mark the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (this Sunday, 15 January). The group from the Centro Astalli – home of the Italian Jesuit Refugee Service – have been invited to the Church of the Gesù, Piazza del Gesù in Rome at 3.30pm (2.30pm GMT), where they will be greeted by Father General Arturo Sosa SJ.The gathering at the Gesù – the mother church of the Society of...
Pope Francis has highlighted the plight of children on the occasion of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which is being marked this Sunday (15 January). In addition to stressing their vulnerability and needs, the Pope is calling on governments, organisations and individuals “to work towards protection, integration and long-term solutions” to the conditions that child migrants face.In his message for the 103rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Francis points out that...
Jesuit Missions has launched its Christmas appeal, focusing on the work that the Jesuits do with some of the most marginalised communities in the world. For more than a decade, an entire generation in West Africa has only had access to education through international humanitarian organisations like Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). And for its appeal for Christmas 2016, Jesuit Missions (JM) shares the story of one individual – 20-year-old Mutara Hara – to explain why their work is so...
Sarah Teather of the Jesuit Refugee Service has spoken about the crisis that asylum seekers face in the capital. She was addressing the launch by London’s Church Leaders of a new campaign in response to the ongoing refugee crisis, and following continued reports of intolerance and heightened tension in the wake of the EU Referendum.#LondonUnited encourages churches representing the capital’s different Christian dominations to showcase their community work, particularly in response...
The Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in the UK (JRS UK) has expressed concern and sadness at the latest death in Colnbrook immigration detention centre near Heathrow. The police launched a murder investigation after a 64-year-old immigration detainee died following a fight there on Thursday.JRS UK runs an outreach service to the two detention centres at Heathrow: Colnbrook and Harmondsworth. A team of religious and lay volunteers visit and accompany detainees offering pastoral support and...
Wimbledon College in south west London has produced an online Advent Calendar with daily reflections for the journey through Advent. The College is celebrating 125 years of Jesuit education and its Advent Fundraising Campaign this year is for the Jesuit Refugee Service, with boys (and staff) taking on sponsored 125 themed challenges to raise money.Wimbledon College started its life in the parlour of the presbytery of the newly established Sacred Heart Church and was based at 3 Cranbrook Road:...
The Jesuit Refugee Service has added its voice to an international call by Catholic agencies to governments to guarantee the protection and safety of child migrants, ahead of Universal Children's Day this Sunday (20 November). The organisations – which include Caritas Internationalis and Pax Christi International – say they stand in solidarity with all children on the move whose rights to live, learn and flourish are compromised.“We are living a critical moment in...
To coincide with the UN International Day of Peace (today), Catholic and Muslim leaders have issued a joint statement, calling upon all governments, religious institutions, and people of good will to work together in addressing the root causes of forced migration. The faith organisations recognise the Jubilee Year of Mercy, announced by Pope Francis, and the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca as opportunities to stand in solidarity and to call on the international community to share the responsibility...
Last week, members of the European Confederation and World Union of Jesuit Alumni and Alumnae met in the Vatican to participate in a conference entitled “Global Migration and Refugee Crisis: Time to Contemplate and Act”. Among the British delegates attending the conference were Fr Kevin Fox SJ, Superior of the Jesuit Community in Boscombe, Dorset, and Bernard Thompson, the Director of the British Jesuit Alumni Charitable Trust and a former President of the World Union of Jesuit...