London: Prayer Vigil for victims of global border policies

Over thirty people gathered outside the UK Home Office in London during the lunch hour on Monday 18 January to remember the many people who have died trying to find safety in Europe, including the UK. At the centre of the circle of people was an icon of Jesus as a refugee, trying to get through a barbed wire fence.

Members of different Churches and Church organisations participated, with strong representation from the London Catholic Worker and the Westminster Diocesan Justice and Peace Network.

Prayers of penitence were offered for our involvement in a system which does not welcome those seeking asylum or treat them with dignity. "Loving Jesus," we prayed, "as a child in fear of your life, you were forced to seek refuge in Egypt. You know what it is like to be rejected, and to be an outsider. You call us to love our neighbours as ourselves, but we have hardened our hearts against strangers."

Names and numbers of those who are known to have died while crossing the sea from Africa or Asia to the European continent, and from France to Britain, were read out, and each death noted with the words, "Lord, have mercy, Christ have mercy."

Fr Joe Ryan, of Westminster Diocese, spoke of Pope Leo's call for 'an unarmed and disarming peace' to remove the reasons that so many people have to flee their homes. People have a right to stay at home, but this right is denied them by conflict, oppression, disabling poverty and climate change.

Leaflets explaining what we were doing and why were handed out to the many lunchtime passers-by, including Home Office staff. The vigil was a gentle, dignified, non-confrontational appeal to people's consciences - a quiet contribution to all the efforts to ensure that migrants and refugees are treated with dignity.

Vigils are held on the third Monday of each month at 12.30. For more information, contact homeofficevigil@gmail.com.

See more pictures on ICN's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064591363750&ref=bookmarks#

Reflection by Fr Joe Ryan at Prayer Vigil for victims of global border policies

Dear friends,

We are gathered here once again outside the Home Office to remember all those who have lost their lives at sea or on land while seeking a safer and better life.

Those who are leaving their home territories are uprooted because of war, violence, hunger and danger to their lives and family. Most people do not want to leave their home if the can avoid it. We are here today because we believe that every human being should have the dignity of a home, shelter, food and security.

We are living in a violent world where power and oppression are considered to be the norm. World events in recent days have been very disturbing, to say the least. The possibility of war is looming; human rights are being denied; lives are seen as worthless or disposable.

This past weekend we celebrated Peace Sunday. I want to link peace and welcoming the stranger. Pope Leo gave us the guide for reflection: "Peace be with you: Towards an 'unarmed' and 'disarming' peace". What a challenge at a time when the build up of arms and defence against so-called enemies are at a high! Speaking about Nonviolence, Justice, Peace, Forgiveness and Reconciliation are not on the agenda for so many leaders.

It is up to us the continue the efforts to proclaim that:

Migrants are welcome; that war and violence are not the answer;
We need to stop the runaway train of despair and indifference;
We need to DISMANTLE the propaganda of FEAR.
We have to continue to declare that there are alternatives;
We need to constantly regroup and renew our efforts and not lose hope.

As we look on this beautiful Icon of Jesus inside or outside the wire barrier can we add another image? Jesus before Pilate; there he is, seemingly powerless against the might of the Roman Empire; He is speaking Truth to Power. This is our task too.

In his messages for Peace this year, Pope Leo gave us a way ahead; a way of being active and not giving in to hopelessness. He spoke of building HOUSES OF PEACE - homes and hearts; tents and palaces; dwellings and spaces of PEACE. All accumulating in a Global Village of Peace.

A house of peace is a place where hostility is DEFUSED through dialogue; where justice is practised and where forgiveness is cherished.

A house of peace can give us the strength to declare that MIGRANTS ARE WELCOME; that they are our brothers and sisters in need.

A house of peace can can help us fight the propaganda of FEAR of the Stranger, the Immigrant, the Asylum Seeker.

A house of peace is a place where people learn how to listen with respect to seek common ground; to work together on the problems at the heart of violence; to build bridges across what seem like impossible divides.

A house of peace knows no bounds.

Houses of peace help avoid the slow suffocation of hope; provide a place where peace can give the oxygen of hope, goodwill and an appetite for reconciliation.

A house of peace helps fight against relentless propaganda that peace is impossible;

it gives us a mental resilience to resist the negativity and the hopelessness that often prevails with the propaganda machine that benefits from weapons of war and the building of barriers to keep people out.

A house of peace tells us that the race for peace and goodwill has to be won in our minds long before we start.

Houses of peace can help communities grow in nonviolence, both as a spiritual path and as effective response to the many forms of violence present in today's world.

A house of peace can give us a new vocabulary to articulate and express another way of thinking and working for nonviolence, justice, peace and reconciliation.

A house of peace reminds us that nonviolent strategies work; they work often better than armed responses.

A house of peace is ultimately a claim on hope, not a denial of suffering, but a courageous insistence that peace, grounded on Gospel nonviolence, remains possible.

THESE ARE THE HOUSES, THE HOMES, THE PLACES WE HAVE TO CONTINUE BUILDING, BEGINNING IN OUR OWN HEARTS.

And finally to the Home Office, to SHABANA MAHMOOD and all her staff: a HOME OFFICE - a HOME - is a place of welcome, of security, of acceptance and belonging, a place of refuge and shelter, a harbour and a sanctuary - that's what a real Home is about.

We must never lose hope, but continue to dream the dream.

Thank you for listening.