Dioceses rally for refugees

CATHOLICS are renting houses and refurbishing presbyteries as part of grassroot initiatives to help accommodate some of the 20,000 mainly Syrian refugees due to arrive under the Government’s relocation scheme.

But there is concern that the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has so far dispensed only general guidance on the issue.

Research by The Tablet has revealed that among the most proactive dioceses is Portsmouth which is conducting an audit of its properties to find suitable accommodation. A group in Reading has developed a model to support a refugee family in a rented home for a year which is being worked into a format usable anywhere. “It includes everything: even allowing for children’s bus fares to school,” said Fr Peter Hollins, who leads the Diocesan Refugee Response Working Group.

The Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, has sent out a pastoral letter to invite offers of support and the Columban Lay Missionaries have agreed to run any suitable property the diocese makes available.

The Diocese of East Anglia said it expects to receive up to 40 refugees every year for the next five years in each of its seven major towns; Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Ipswich, King’s Lynn, Lowestoft, Norwich and Peterborough. Besides its diocesan coordinators, each deanery has appointed a contact person who is in touch with a designated individual in each of the 58 parishes. The diocese has also identified at least one empty presbytery that could be offered to the local authority for housing.

According to the bishops’ conference’s website, five dioceses have still to appoint local coordinators. However, one coordinator who is in place, Mark Wiggin in Salford diocese, says there is still uncertainty about their role.

“There is a need for some policy guidance within the Catholic Church on exactly what we are looking to make available from the community, the faithful, as much as from the diocese and official organisations,” said Mr Wiggin who is also chief executive of Caritas Salford. “People want to help and their key question is: ‘How can we help? Can you give us some real specifics? Not just general requests.’ Guidance should come from the centre.”

One Salford parish has offered to rent a house for a family, and a private landlord has offered two of his homes, but both need information on how that can be done.

In a statement released in September, the bishops’ conference issued a guidance note calling for parishes to offer prayer and practical support.

Mr Wiggin said it was a great opportunity for some “joined-up thinking” from organisations such as Caritas Social Action Network, Cafod and the bishops’ conference.