Canada: Bishops issue Pastoral Letter on welcoming refugees

Canada's Catholic bishops have released a new pastoral letter this week encouraing the Catholic community in Canada to welcome refugees. 'I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me' - is the title of the new document fro the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).

The bishops say the letter "comes at a critical time for the staggering and unprecedented number of refugees and displaced persons now present in our world. It aims at making Canadian Catholics more aware of the current situation, while also challenging them to make a difference in the lives of refugees through prayer, support, and the sponsorship of families... Welcoming the stranger, as Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25.35, is not an option for Christians but a Gospel requirement. When we do this, 'we open our doors to God,' as Pope Francis indicates in his 2016 Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.'

This Pastoral Letter is the latest of several statements from the CCCB, dealing with this issue. It echoes the call adopted by the Bishops of Canada at their recent Plenary Assembly, and issued to all parishes and religious communities in Canada, to give serious consideration to sponsoring a refugee family.

The bishops also invite "all our Catholic brothers and sisters in our country to pray, as the Pastoral Letter states, 'that our hands and our hearts may unite with our voices in actions that will give a loving welcome to refugees in our country and in our Christian communities."

To read the Letter see: www.cccb.ca/site/images/stories/pdf/Pastoral_Letter_Refugees.pdf