MADISON — As an important and urgent Corporal Work of Mercy for 49,000 Afghan refugees living on U.S. military bases and more than 18,000 evacuees on bases overseas, the Diocese of Madison is asking for support.
Tag: refugees
Join Bishop Hying on pilgrimage to view ‘Angels Unawares’ sculpture and celebrate Mass for refugees and exiles
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — For centuries the Church has been an important patron of the arts. Art is a beautiful way to teach our history and beliefs.
WCC supports Hmong community on 2020 World Day for Migrants and Refugees
From the Wisconsin Catholic Conference:
On September 27, 2020, the Church celebrates the World Day for Migrants and Refugees. In recognizing the unique contributions of immigrants and refugees, the Catholic bishops of Wisconsin have sent a letter to President Trump and other Administration officials acknowledging the special contribution of Hmong and Lao refugees. In a February 14, 2020, letter, the U.S. Department of State acknowledged ongoing negotiations with the government of Laos to accept deported Hmong and other Lao U.S. residents. The bishops of Wisconsin have asked the President to end these negotiations.
“We understand,” the bishops wrote, “that legal residents may be deported if they have committed certain crimes and that previous administrations have sent several hundred individuals back to Laos, but we urge you to limit, not amplify, such deportations.”Refugee policy violates U.S. and international law
To the editor:
What Mr. Trump and Mr. Sessions are doing is in violation of international law, and our law, protecting asylum seekers and refugees. It is also a violation of the eighth and 14th Amendments to our Constitution. The inhumane policy of separating young children from their parents will result in irreparable psychological harm.
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) was denied access to the immigration center where children are being held. He did tour a processing center where children were being held in cages with nets over them to prevent escape.
Building bridges while fixing bicycles
REEDSBURG — Because of security reasons the parents of the boy pictured with this article have given permission to use his picture but only with his first name — Basheer.
The family has been in this country less than a year and they still fear that there could be separation, rejection, or forced return — just generally lots of settlement fears.
State Catholic Conference urges action on refugees
MADISON — The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, issued an action alert on February 3 calling on concerned citizens to take action in solidarity with refugees.
The WCC said that President Donald Trump has issued an Executive Order with “devastating impacts on refugee resettlement in the United States.”
Is there still no room at the inn?
We know the familiar story of Jesus’ birth. Mary and Joseph could find no room at an inn in Bethlehem, so Jesus — the son of God — was born in a humble stable.
We realize that the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, had decreed that a census should be taken, so that’s perhaps why the inns were full.
But the apparent lack of hospitality shown to a pregnant mother and father still should bother us. Why didn’t someone else give up their room for this expectant mother?
Wisconsin bishops issue statement on terrorists, refugees
The Catholic bishops of Wisconsin through the Wisconsin Catholic Conference have issued the following statement on the terrorist attacks and the refugee situation in Syria.
The Catholic bishops of Wisconsin join bishops across the United States in expressing our deepest condolences to the French people for the horrific loss of life at the hands of ISIS terrorists. There is no justification for such barbarism, especially when done in the name of God.
Putting a human face on the refugee crisis
One of the saddest pictures I’ve seen recently is that of a three-year-old Syrian boy lying on a Turkish beach. He looks like he’s sleeping with his head turned to one side. But he isn’t asleep; he’s dead.
Catholic News Service, to which the Catholic Herald subscribes, ran the picture of the little boy. However, I decided not to use that picture with this article (I felt it was too disturbing). Instead, I have included another sad picture: one of the boy’s father weeping. Abdullah Kurdi, father of three-year old Aylan Kurdi, is shown crying as he leaves a morgue in Turkey September 3.
The family of Aylan, the Syrian toddler whose body washed up on a Turkish beach, had been trying to emigrate to Canada after fleeing the war-torn town of Kobani.
Millions of refugees with no place to call home
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Emergency: Syria! Emergency: South Sudan! Emergency: Democratic Republic of the Congo!
These are the alarming messages being displayed on the homepage (www.unhcr.org) of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
People uprooted from their homes
According to the UNHCR, Syria has more people forcibly displaced than any country on earth. Over nine million Syrians have been uprooted from their homes due to civil war — over 2.5 million of them have fled to neighboring countries as refugees. And most distressing, more than half of the displaced are children.
In South Sudan, UNHCR reports the civil war and growing food shortages there has led to approximately 2,000 people crossing into nearby countries per day. Many of these refugees have been arriving exhausted, nutritionally weak, and in poor health.