Cathal BarryMid-East Christians feel ‘forgotten’ by the West
EXCLUSIVE
Archbishop Eamon Martin has warned that unless politicians speed up efforts to help desperate refugees, the grassroots momentum may be lost.
The Archbishop of Armagh also said that Christians he met in the Middle East during a recent visit increasingly feel forgotten and abandoned by people in the West.
Calling on politicians to speed up relief efforts, Dr Martin said that it may be that politicians are “behind where the hearts of people are at”.
Speaking exclusively to The Irish Catholic fresh from his Holy Land trip, the Primate of All-Ireland said Christians there are “really besieged by a lack of hope and they actually pleaded with us: ‘Have our Christian brothers and sisters across the world forgotten us?’
“They do feel forgotten… they feel we have forgotten them,” the archbishop said.
Dr Martin said he is “pleading” with politicians to speed up talks about welcoming besieged refugees to Ireland.
“People want to reach out and embrace people. That is certainly something that I have been hearing on the ground in my consultations with parishioners and people at diocesan level.
“There is a fear that the bureaucracy of asylum seeking may be too slow to respond to the very clear and heartfelt need that is out there.
“I am not trying to underestimate the complexity of this problem. However, there is a danger that if we leave the discussions and the deliberations too long that the actual sheer emotion of wanting to reach out and help begins to fade,” the Primate warned.
The hierarchy are due to discuss the refugee crisis during their quarterly meeting in Maynooth next week. Many dioceses and parishes have already begun making preparations to receive refugee families in response to the Pope’s appeal.
However, they have also warned that unless the Government responds generously by permitting refugees’ access, parishes will be impotent.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) has said that Catholic primary schools throughout the country would be “delighted” to “welcome and educate” children of refugees.
CPSMA General Secretary Fr Tom Deenihan said that “the majority of schools had space to enrol children and would be happy to do so”.
“Catholic parish schools have been to the fore in integrating migrants into our local communities. Our schools have always been places of welcome, where children, regardless of creed and nationality, have been received joyfully, generously catered for, and in turn have benefited from a quality education.
“As an integral part of local parish life in Ireland, Catholic schools would not be found wanting at this critical time,” he said.