News Brief

Catholic church publishes asylum seekers guide -29/11/04

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has published a guide to the Church's teaching on refugees and migrants. It follows the high profile case of a catholic priest who said he was prepared to go to prison to stop an asylum seeker being returned to Rwanda. Father McKay would not allow police and immigration officials to enter the church when they came to detain Josette Ishimwe, and managed to get her case reviewed after he prevented her detention by police. The new booklet entitled 'The Dispossessed' has been issued by the Office for Refugee Policy, and provides an overview of the concern shown for refugees and migrants by bishops in England and Wales since Cardinal Basil Hume described protection for those fleeing persecution as a "benchmark of a civilised society" in 1990. It also outlines the position and teaching of the Catholic Church in this country and internationally with regard to itinerant peoples, and gives a useful summary of major Church documents on refugees, starting with the Apostolic Constitution Exsul Familia of 1952 and including comments made by Pope John Paul II and papers published in the past under the auspices of the Bishops' Conference of England & Wales.