Church in Luxembourg welcomes
two families of migrants from Lesbos
 |
| Refugee families arrive in Luxembourg |
The Archdiocese of Luxembourg and Cardinal Jean-Claude
Hollerich welcomes Kuwaiti and Syrian refugees from camps in Lesbos. The
Catholic Church of the Grand Duchy will provide for their needs. Last May
Cardinal Krajewski led a mission to the Greek island, in the footsteps of Pope
Francis
By Giada Aquilino- Vatican City
The concern of the Church for migrants, especially those who
are refugees in Lesbos, has the face of two families of refugees who arrived
Tuesday at Luxembourg’s airport. Eight of them, adults and children, all from
camps on the Greek island, will be taken care of by the archdiocese led by the
new Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich.
In May the mission in Lesbos
Last May, following in the footsteps of Pope Francis, a
Vatican delegation to Lesbos was led by Cardinal Hollerich and the Papal
Almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski with the support of the Community of
Sant'Egidio and the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Department of
Dicastery of Integral and Human Development. They brought with them the
Pontiff's solidarity to the migrants of the island, in that area of the sea
that separates Greece from Turkey: six months ago there were 7,000, Afghans,
Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians, Kuwaitis, and North Africans.
Kuwait and Syria, the countries of origin
Now, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which has just over
600,000 inhabitants, has welcomed two families to the headquarters of the
archdiocese, thanks to a humanitarian corridor and the
collaboration of the Church and Greek and local authorities.
After arriving at Luxembourg airport, the Arabic-speaking
families, one from Kuwait with two children aged 8 and 5 and one from Syria
with twins aged almost two years, were hosted at a welcome lunch at Cardinal
Hollerich's residence, before being transferred for a period of 10-12 days to a
refugee centre. While there, medical and administrative formalities required by
the Luxembourg authorities will be carried out. Then they will go to their
accommodation and for two years, their needs will be provided for by the
Luxembourg Catholic Church.
People of good will
During the mission in Lesbos, it was the Archbishop of
Luxembourg who joined Cardinal Krajeswski in exhorting European countries to
show concrete solidarity and "active charity": "when people
suffer and lose hope people of good will must react", he told Vatican
News. Six months have now passed and Cardinal Hollerich’s wish has been
transformed into a concrete commitment to those who will always carry with them
stories of war, suffering and poverty, but who now have the opportunity open a
new chapter in their lives.
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