At a special service last week, multi-denominational Christian groups in Bath wrote messages of hope and welcome to refugees, after gathering at sunset in Northend to reflect on the current crisis.
Parishioners from Batheaston, Northend and Bathford gathered at the Good Shepherd Church, Northend, for a service to reflect on the refugee crisis.
As part of a campaign led by the Catholic charities CAFOD, CSAN and the Jesuit Refugee Service, they reflected using a Lampedusa Cross – hand carved by an Italian carpenter, Francisco Tuccio, from the driftwood of capsized refugee boats.
The cross had a special significance for one member of the congregation who fled the Iran-Iraq war of the 1990s.
She said: “These people will have to lose themselves and their old identity to find a new identity. They are traumatised, and many will not be able to speak about what they are enduring for a long time, perhaps not forever. I know their pain.
“For me, the simple wooden cross from the shores of Lampedusa, hewn from the wreckage of a battered boat, comes alive in my hands. It speaks to me as I gently run my fingers and palm along the grain and knot.
“It tells me of those who never made it to shore. It tells me of the fears and suffering of those it had carried as they reluctantly wrench themselves from home and loved ones – a home that they may never see again.
“Despite all these, it tells me of their search for hope. If I can do nothing, I can still pray for those afflicted by war.”
After the service, the group wrote messages of welcome, hope and love, which will be shared with refugees in the UK and abroad as an act of solidarity, and dedicated at a special event to take place in November.
CAFOD volunteer for St John’s Parish, Irene Prentice, said: “The Good Shepherd Church has strong ecumenical links with the other Christian denominations and over the years, that bond of friendship has been strengthened as they gather together regularly.
“Using a world map we identified the top ten nations where refugees come from, and reflected on the plight of those having to flee, leaving behind family members, and the welcome or rejection that awaited them.”
The group used a guide produced by CAFOD, the Catholic aid agency that helped them reflect on the plight of refugees.
The vicar of St John the Baptist, Batheaston, Isobel Rathbone said: “It was a very moving service, weaving the reality of those suffering with the suffering of Christ and the people of God in the Bible.”
CAFOD is inviting communities to take part in a pilgrimage to show their solidarity with refugees and they are working to provide practical help to those fleeing their homes.
They are calling on the UK government to take a fair and proportionate share of refugees and are pushing for the establishment of safe and legal routes to enable refugees to reach safety.