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Easter Message from Bishop of Bangor focusses on Calais refugee crisis


Bishop Andrew John

Bishop Andrew John

The Bishop of Bangor in North Wales, the Rt Rev Andrew John, has prepared a video and a written message for Easter. In his written message he reflects on the plight of migrants at camps around Calais and Dunkirk. In his video video message, he considers the symbol of the Cross and invites viewers to consider the meaning of Easter for them.

Easter and the Jungle

We are probably all familiar with the word 'jungle'. It conjures many images - strange plants and sounds, wild animals and lost tribes from another world. It may also conjure images of what lies very close to the port of Calais in Northern France where thousands of refugees are located as they try desperately to find a better life anywhere else.

A good part of the 'Jungle' - the churches, some shops, even a nightclub - has been removed by the French authorities who, as we can understand, do not wish this mass of suffering humanity to become a permanent feature. Yet there is still suffering and fear and despair and so much uncertainty for those huddled around wood fires and makeshift shacks.

In April I hope to travel with a number of people from North Wales to take much needed supplies to the 'Jungle'. It will only a drop in the ocean but seeing the issue with our own eyes will at least allow us to grasp a little more of the problem.

I find myself pondering again the meaning of Easter this year: good news about Jesus who is alive and who offers new life to all. The Resurrection is always about hope overcoming fear and despair bringing light where there might otherwise be darkness. It's about the way in which a loving God draws individuals, people and societies from death to life.

And in the case of the 'Jungle', that sense of moving from death to life might have a hard, contemporary edge to it, because it will involve political decisions - as well as a huge effort to address issues of peace and restoration in countries beyond Europe.

It will involve the very toughest kind of love, which won't flinch from achieving a better life for those who are in the valley of the shadow of death. It will involve cost and change but that is what resurrection means and that is what makes Easter so important.

+Andrew Bangor

Watch the video here: http://bangor.churchinwales.org.uk/news/2016/03/bishop-andys-easter-messages/

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