We have got the means. Have we got the will? Fr Malcolm at Greenbelt on refugees

Fr Malcolm at Greenbelt. Photo: Leah Gordon, USPG
It was a year ago today that the photos of three year old Alan Kurdi, dead on a Turkish beach, triggered a grass roots wave of conscience that moved governments and international agencies to take action on the refugee crisis. The refugee crossings from Turkey to Greece have reduced considerably this year due to the EU-Turkey migration deal. (However, that the numbers risking their lives to cross from North Africa to Italy and Malta are not reduced). But now over 57,000 asylum seekers are trapped in Greece, held in squalid conditions, despairing of their future. Only about 5,000 refugees in Greece have been relocated to other EU countries, out of a total of over 66,000 promised such resettlement.

Our Anglican Church in Greece, headed by Senior Chaplain, the Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw MBE, has been active in motivating ecumenical partners and agencies to coordinate activities and share resources to address the complex changing situation in the country. The Anglican Mission Agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been supporting our diocesan efforts and continues to support Fr Malcolm and our Church in Greece in reaching out to the refugees now stuck in camps and detention centres.

USPG invited Fr Malcolm to speak at the Greenbelt Christian Festival last weekend about this work with refugees in Greece. The challenges have changed from a year ago, but the efforts are as intensive as ever. "In the camps", says Fr Malcolm, "a huge diversity of cultural groups live side by side crating a tinderbox that can flare up at any time. People are in despair having fled their warring homelands to find new homes in Europe and now find themselves long-term residents in camps, struggling to feed their families and obtain the basic necessities for survival. In these desperate circumstances, when a person from one cultural group is finally entered into the asylum process, this can trigger a violent reaction from another group who has not received this status".

This is the focus presently for the Anglican Church and USPG: reaching out to refugees in the camps with medical support, nutritious meals, legal advice and support for vulnerable children.

Here is a very moving clip from Fr Malcolm's presentation at Greenbelt:


Father Malcolm Bradshaw at Greenbelt from USPG on Vimeo.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell to the Diocese in Europe

Image
Deacon Frances and I packed up our office yesterday and turned over our official files, emails and equipment. Thus a close working together for 22 years comes to an end. So it is hard to believe that today, St David's day, a new chapter begins, after 44 years of stipendiary ministry, 22 years as deacon then priest and 22 as a bishop.  Here are just a few memories from the last couple of months...   But now it is time to begin a new chapter.  O God, by whose command the order of time runs its course: forgive our impatience, perfect our faith and, while we await the fulfilment of your promise, grant us to have a good hope because of your Word,  even Jesus Christ our Lord. (St Gregory Nazianzus, 330 - 390)
Read more

Archbishop of Canterbury's Pentecost Letter: A European Consequence

Image
In his Pentecost letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned of certain consequences for provinces of the Anglican Communion which have failed to stand by the three moratoria . (No authorisation of blessings services for same-sex unions; no consecrations of bishops living in same-sex relationships; and no bishop authorising any ministry within the diocese of another bishop without explicit permission). One consequence would be that representatives from such provinces w ould not be able to participate in the formal international interchurch dialogues of the Communion. One of those dialogues is the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council ( AOCICC ), the official instrument set up to deepen the relationship of communion established in 1931 between the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht . As the member Churches of the Union of Utrecht are all European, the AOCICC is effectively a European body. (I am one of the members, appointe
Read more

Advent in Helsinki: Mary, the Church's calling, and the One who brings us out of darkness to light

Image
Outside the Cathedral in Helsinki Yesterday, 8 December, was a very full Advent day, with activities redolent of the themes of the season. It was, of course, the Feast of the [Immaculate] Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary when we contemplate the mystery of the one who was prepared, through grace, to become the Mother of the Redeemer.  At the Vallila Help Centre (above, with Coordinator Eeva and Fr Tuomas) St Ambrose of Milan (whose feast we also celebrated this past week) was the first to refer to the Blessed Virgin as the Mother of the Church,  Mater Ecclesiae,  a title which helps us consider not only her role in giving birth to the Redeemer from whom the Church itself was born, but also how in her own life she responded to God's call in faith and love, as the Church today is also called to respond to the needs of the world.  It was with this in mind that I was so moved by a visit to the Ukraine Vallila Help Centre, a project supported by USPG and this diocese, which provides
Read more