Cardiff becomes first Welsh diocese to house refugee family

THE ARCHDIOCESE of Cardiff is to house a refugee family from Syria under the Government’s Community Sponsorship Scheme, making it the first Catholic diocese in Wales to do so, writes Carina Murphy.

Sr Ruth O’Neill, a member of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, organised the Cardiff initiative to make use of an unoccupied house owned by the Church. The family will be resettled as part of the Government’s Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, which is due to welcome 20,000 Syrian refugees from 2015-2020.

Parishioners, the council and housing officials collaborated to ensure the legislation was adhered to and that the cultural, physical and psychological needs of the family would be met.
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Cardiff said: “Before leaving Syria, they will have been identified as needing humanitarian protection. Their past experiences will undoubtedly have been traumatic, but they will be assured of a warm welcome and secure environment in which to rebuild their lives.”

In November, St Monica’s, Flixton, in the diocese of Salford became the first Catholic parish in Britain to welcome a Syrian family under the scheme. Caritas Salford said that more Catholic parishes in Salford were forming groups to put in applications.