Protect
“Our obligation to protect vulnerable migrants may be understood as a series of steps intended to defend their rights and dignity, independent of their legal status. This can occur not only through legislation or policy priority, but also how we engage migrants living in our communities.”
Pope Francis, 2018 World Day of Migrants and Refugees Message
Feast Day of St. Josephine Bakhita (February 8)
World Refugee Day 2023
During the last decade alone the number of people displaced from their homes because of persecution, human rights violations, and various forms of conflict has more than doubled. In 2011 there were an estimated 38 million people forcibly displaced. As of 2021 that number had increased to an astounding 89 million people. Men, woman, and children suddenly homeless, fleeing for their lives and in search of a new start.
We celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20th every year. It provides an opportunity to honor those who have been persecuted and forcibly displaced, a chance for us as a Church to educate others on the sufferings of this vulnerable population, to speak out on their behalf, and to call for greater protections for them. For World Refugee Day 2022, you can help us help them. Here are some ways how: