Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the senior figure in the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, has called for a more welcoming approach to migrants in British national life.

The British government has been accused of damaging social cohesion through its policies and rhetoric on asylum. The criticisms were made by a wide range of witnesses at the final public hearing of the Independent Asylum Commission.

Recognising the needs of priests from overseas and those ministering to increasingly migrant-based congregations, the Catholic Church in England and Wales has introduced a new course specifically for them at the northern seminary of Ushaw in Durham.

Britain has been accused of ignoring the plight of millions of refugees fleeing the violence in Iraq. A report by Amnesty International has said it was "staggering" that the UK had forcibly returned more refugees to Iraq than any other European nation.

Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has renewed the church's call for "immigration policies which respect the rights and gifts of those among us, now living in fear, whose contributions to our communities and economy are so valued."

Delegates at the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu, Romania, concluded their weeklong gathering on 9 September 2007 with a call to the churches of Europe to deepen their support for migrants and other victimised minority groups.