Vatican official visits agencies working with refugees

Ben Bano (Seeking Sanctuary), Faith Anderson (CSAN), Mgr Anthony Figueiredo, Libby Abbott (CAFOD), Phil Kerton (Seeking Sanctuary)

Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo of the Migrants and Refugees section of the Vatican's new Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development visited CAFOD and Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) this week, to hear about their work with refugees.

In particular, Mgr Figueiredo was interested in the work of CSAN member Seeking Sanctuary and their grassroots work delivering material aid to refugees at Calais and raising awareness of the migration crisis in the South-East.

He was given some of the Messages of Hope from the CAFOD and CSAN Lampedusa cross campaign, as well as information about the Catholic contribution to the Community Sponsorship refugee resettlement scheme. Mgr Figueiredo also met with Caritas CEO Phil McCarthy, to present the Holy See's current campaign on refugees.

Mgr Figueiredo answers directly to Pope Francis and is eager to support refugee and migration work in the Church. During his stay he visited the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and Caritas Salford, which is hosting the first refugee family to be welcomed under the Community Sponsorship scheme.

For more information about CSAN visit: www.csan.org.uk

Read more about Seeking Sanctuary here: www.seekingsanctuary.weebly.com