Representatives of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe and the Conference of European Churches presented the Christmas statement to the First Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness, in Brussels. Photo: CEC/Naveen Quayyum.
(Lutheran World Information Center) – The Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (hereinafter – CCME) has issued a statement calling on political leaders, churches and European citizens to work toward building a more open and welcoming society. The statement, which was published in the first week of Advent, calls on all people to recognize that “welcoming the stranger is part of our Christian and European heritage.”
The vice-presidents of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in three European regions and the leaders of other LWF member churches are among the more than 30 signatories of the declaration. It has been endorsed by representatives of Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Orthodox, Reformed and other Protestant churches, Christian world communions and ecumenical organizations.
The leaders of the CCME and the Conference of European Churches (CEC) handed over the document to the First Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness, at a ceremony held in the Parliament building in Brussels.
The LWF vice-presidents – Estonian Archbishop Urmas Viilma (Central Eastern Europe), German Dean Astrid Kleist (Central Western Europe) and Swedish Archbishop Dr. Antje Jackelén (Nordic countries) represent regions with churches that are members of both the LWF and the CEC and are active in the work of the CCME.
In their Christmas statement, the church leaders express “deep concern” about the current development of Europe’s response to the arrival of new migrants and refugees. According to United Nations statistics, almost 70 million people were forced to leave their homes, seeking refuge and means of subsistence. More than half of them are children. In this Advent season, the statement recalls that, when Mary and Joseph fled from Herod’s threats to kill their child, Jesus himself was without shelter and took refuge in Egypt. “As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ,” it says, “we are reminded of our responsibility toward those in distress, alongside God’s promise of light and life for this world.”
Honor, dignity and compassion
Recalling the biblical message of welcoming the stranger, the statement also looks back to the 1999 European summit in Tampere, Finland, and reaffirms that “it is not acceptable that ‘migration management’ policies lead to mass loss of human life on the way to Europe becoming the norm, and exploitation and violence an everyday reality.”
It is not acceptable that “migration management” policies lead to mass loss of human life on the way to Europe becoming the norm, and exploitation and violence an everyday reality, – statement of the European church leaders.
The statement reaffirms the conclusions of the summit, in particular “absolute respect for the right to seek asylum” and “the full and inclusive application of the Geneva Convention” as principles that must guide asylum policy today. The church representatives refute the notion that welcoming newcomers harms those currently living in Europe, and insist that regulatory rules must take care of the needs of both migrants and the local population.
The church leaders emphasize that discussions about migration must be full of “honor, dignity and, where possible, compassion.” The spreading of “inaccurate, unverifiable and divisive messages,” they say, “only makes the challenge of living together even more complicated.”
The European church leaders insist that living together in diversity can be both an enriching and a challenging experience. They call for maintaining a spirit of tolerance and goodwill alongside a determination to build relationships constructively. In conclusion, they commit to work “toward our vision of an inclusive and participatory society – for newcomers and all inhabitants.”
Brussels, Belgium/Geneva
| 4./12./2018.
Source: The Lutheran World Federation