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Our churches can host 1200 refugees say Archbishops

Tuesday, September 8th, 2015

Leaders of New Zealand’s Catholic and Anglican churches say their people can look after 1200 refugees on top of the 750 Syrian refugees the Government confirmed it will take over the next two and a half years.

On Monday the Minister of Immigration, Michael Woodhouse announced that New Zealand will take 750 Syrian refugees over the next two and a half years, a measure expected to cost an extra $50 million

Thousands of New Zealanders have also pledged  via a Facebook page to host a refugee in response to the crisis in Europe.

Cardinal John Dew of the Roman Catholic Church and archbishop Philip Richardson of the Anglican Church held a joint press conference at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Wellington on Monday. Watch video from press conference

They said the response from those in both churches in the past few days has led them to believe they could help resettle 300 four-person families into New Zealand communities.

Refugees could be sheltered and would rely on extensive community and church resources, including school and employment networks.

Both churches have about 650 parishes across the country between them, and Cardinal Dew says that even if half of those agreed to take people on, it would make a difference.

“That is an enormous number of people that we believe we can provide for,” he says.

Congregations from the Anglican Church’s Diocese of Wellington have already had a meeting on the weekend and have said they have the capacity to house and financially support 40 families – approximately 160 people – in response to the current refugee crisis.

The Archbishops were later joined by Baptist church leaders in Christchurch.

South West Baptist Church pastor Alan Jamieson said the churches would offer a “one parish, one family” scheme, with each church sponsoring either an individual or a family.

The churches could provide “wraparound social support, including with housing, helping kids into schools or preschools, helping with english language learning, with jobs and integration into the wider community”, he said.

Jamieson said there were around 240 churches in the Baptist Assembly and a dozen in Christchurch.

Last week, speaking on behalf of the Catholic bishops, Cardinal John Dew said, “The escalating numbers of refugees globally constitutes a crisis which no nation committed to human rights can ignore.”

“We urge the Government to think deeply about how New Zealand might provide a response which reflects the generosity of New Zealanders.”

“The refugees on Nauru took similar journeys to the Syrians currently making their way across Europe.

“We need to be aware of the needs of all refugees, both those now on our television screens and those who are less visible in camps around the world.”

The two churches also joined forces last week to write to the Key, calling for an “an immediate and urgent increase in refugee numbers and for an extraordinary allocation of places on top of the quota.”

In a letter to Mr Key, Archbishops Philip Richardson and Brown Turei (Anglican) and John Cardinal Dew (Catholic) say the refugee crises in the Middle East and Africa require “a global response.”

“Our country needs to play its part and to respond with the compassion and the hospitality for which we are renowned,” the church leaders write.

“We have done so in the past, we continue to support newcomers and we commit ourselves and our resources into the future to this task.”

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