Dear Father,
Please find attached:
1. A joint statement by Bishop Patrick and the Rt Rev Paul Williams, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, on the refugee crisis; and
2. A statement by Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Peter Smith, on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales, on the crisis.
The Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales recognises that the primary responsibility for reception and resettlement of refugees lies with the Government. However, each diocese has been asked to identify a point of contact to co-ordinate responses from its parishes and schools regarding practical help that they can give or initiatives that they can take. Patricia Stoat, from the diocesan Justice & Peace Commission, has kindly accepted Bishop Patrick’s invitation to do this for the Diocese of Nottingham. The contact email addresses are jpnottingham@nrcdt.org.uk (with ‘refugees’ in the subject line) and jprefugees@nrcdt.org.uk
The Bishop, as you know, is particularly keen for parishes to give some creative thought to how some solidarity and welcome could be expressed to those fleeing war-torn countries in a practical way, which could take the form of a local ecumenical initiative, and he asks that you do whatever you can to help those who are suffering in this way, and to let Patricia know what you, your schools and your parishioners will be doing, no matter how seemingly small.
