‘Catholic Challenge’

MADISON  An enthusiastic group of concerned citizens at St. Vincent Martyr Parish here on Aug. 6 were reminded to put a human face on the controversial issue of refugee migration around the world. They were told to look at it from three distinct perspectives: the challenges of caring for 65 million displaced people around the globe; the hopeful personal story of a family from war-torn Syria resettling in Morris County; and Catholic social teaching, which directs Christians to serve their most vulnerable brothers and sisters. The afternoon gathering in the media room of St. Vincent’s ministry center here continued fruitful dialogue in and around the Morris County faith community about formulating a positive Christian plan of action to address immigration and refugee issues that the area faces.

A committee at St. Vincent’s sponsored the gathering, called “The Catholic Challenge to Refugee Migrations: An Afternoon of Dialogue to Understand Christian Responses to the Refugee Challenge,” which attracted about 20 concerned citizens, many of whom are involved already at St. Vincent’s on immigration or refugee issues. Participants engaged in a respectful conversation about “what we know, what we don’t know and what we would like to know [about the issue]; sharing our hopes and fears, because we have parishioners on both sides of the issue; and talking about this topic prayerfully and respectfully, so we can come to an understanding of what our bishops and Church teachings are telling us,” said Jan Figenshu, St. Vincent’s pastoral associate.

“This is a grassroots effort. It’s important for people in the parish to talk about this issue and then formulate a response to the issue,” said Msgr. George Hundt, pastor, who spoke about Catholic social teaching at the workshop. He mentioned that Madison welcomes a large number of area Hispanics, just behind the numbers going to Morristown and Dover with no clear data on how many of them are undocumented. “St. Vincent’s has a great social outreach, but we can do better with more advocacy. These discussions are happening in many places — Madison as well,” he said.

Facilitating the meeting was Adam Vincent, who now works for the International Rescue Committee in Elizabeth and, last year earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and humanities with a concentration in peace and justice studies from Villanova University, Pa. During the gathering, Mary Bradford, a committee member, spoke about the global challenges of immigrants, followed by a talk from Tom Lewis, who has worked with Refugee Assistance Morris Partners (RAMP), in re-settling a refugee family from Syria.

“We want to listen and understand each other. There is a hope that this [gathering] inspires empathy [for immigrants and refugees] and action,” said Vincent, who asked participants to write down their hopes — which included productive dialogue, greater understanding of Catholic teaching on the issue and a plan to respond — and their fears — which included participants’ politics getting in the way of true conversation or their ability to formulate a plan.

This committee grew out of a meeting of the faith community’s parish council in January, when several members expressed concern over President Trump’s executive order to ban citizens of six Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the U.S. Instigated by Msgr. Hundt, the parish hosted a meeting in February that sparked conversation about the issue among the faithful and the establishment of the committee, said Gene Cracovia, a St. Vincent’s parishioner and committee member.

On June 20, World Refugee Day, Msgr. Hundt led a holy hour in the church, which included related Scripture readings and prayers, The Aug. 6 gathering about refugee issues came four days after President Trump backed a proposal to cut legal immigration in half and switch the criteria for entry into the U.S. from family-based to merit-based. The committee continues to meet to plan upcoming events, Vincent said.

In her slide presentation, Bradford gave participants a global perspective on refugee migration, noted that forced displacement of people around the world is at the highest level since World War II, with more than 65 million people. More than half of the world’s refugees are under age 18. The highest number of refugees, coming to the U.S., is fleeing the Democratic Republic of Congo at 16,370, Syria at 12,587 and Burma at 12,347, said Bradford, citing U.N. and U.S. statistics.

“All of these refugees have a name, a face and a humanity,” Bradford said. “We need to have the courage to help one refugee at a time.”

In another slide presentation, Lewis spoke about the challenges of a recent refugee family — a father, mother, a teenage son and a younger daughter and son — in escaping the civil war in Syria and eventually being granted permission to re-settle in the U.S. with the help of RAMP and Church World Services.

In a harrowing tale, the family left their home in the city of Aleppo in 2014, on a journey that took them into Turkey, where they secured an apartment and the father and older son got work to pay for necessities. Then, the family registered with the U.N. to be re-settled elsewhere — an extensive process that included interviews, medical tests and proof of a clean record. After, they were granted asylum and arrived in the U.S. in November last year. RAMP cleaned and furnished the apartment in Morris County and pays the rent, said Lewis, who worked on the re-settlement with his wife, Mary.

Toward the end of the two-hour workshop, participants divided into two small groups to continue the discussion about Catholic views on the issue, current initiatives that are under way or ideas for a possible St. Vincent’s action plan. But before they convened, Msgr. Hundt spoke about the principles of Catholic social teaching. It includes the Principle of Human Dignity: that every human is created in the image of God and therefore is invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family; and the Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable, which instructs us to put their needs first, said Msgr. Hundt, citing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“We are called to help people directly but also to change unjust political or economic systems,” Msgr. Hundt said. “We are citizens of the kingdom of God first and citizens of the nations where we live second.”