25.06.2021
Refugee Week in Christ Church Cathedral raises awareness of those seeking sanctuary
Refugee Week 2021 in Christ Church Cathedral drew to a close with a service of Choral Evensong to mark Sanctuary Sunday. Throughout the week the cathedral hosted a number of activities and events in solidarity with all who have fled their homes in search of sanctuary.
The Homing Pigeons: Birds with Wishes Exhibition featured beautiful works of art created by school children in Aleppo, Syria and included some moving messages from the children about their hopes and dreams. It was organised in collaboration with Places of ARcture with support from Ecclesiastical.
The What’s the Story? Lives in Direct Provision speaker series went online this year. Five people shared powerful personal video reflections on their experiences of Direct Provision. These videos along with a musical piece are all available to watch on the cathedral’s website here: https://christchurchcathedral.ie/cathedral-of-sanctuary/whats-story-series/
Two of the speakers, Damian and Selema, made their contributions in the form of poetry. Damian looked at his life at the age of 24 when he was an engineer and had many dreams and plans to when he was 25 when he was living in Direct Provision having had to flee his home. “Please give me an opportunity to live in your community. It was not a choice, it was an escape. I’m sorry for showing up in your state,” he said in his poem. Selema shared three poems under the heading ‘Three Thoughts on a Journey’. She spoke about her scars and noted that she is “not complete without them”. She also reflected on family and the importance of home.
A mother of two children shared her experience of living in Direct Provision for the last five years. She and her son and daughter all live in one room. “All my children know is one room. I know it affects them. As a mother you don’t have a normal life because you can’t have responsibility for your own life,” she explained.
Joyce and her young daughter live in Direct Provision. She said it is not where anyone would wish to be but that she had experienced love from people in Ireland. “There are times I experienced hate but I also got love from people,” she commented. She said it is very hard to live with the uncertainty and added that the waiting time should be limited.
Mohammad spoke of his experience in coming from Syria where he was a graduate and worked as an accountant but his dreams were shattered by “this crazy war”. He left in 2012 for Jordan and later came to Ireland. He said he could tolerate all the hassles of asylum but found it very difficult to be away from his family. He got refugee status after one year and started the reunification process with his family who have now come to join him and he hopes the family’s wounds will heal soon.
The evening concluded with a piano recital by composer Cherinet Ayele of a moving piece of music called the ‘Journey of Life’. This beautiful piece of music is also available on the link above.
Introducing the service on Sanctuary Sunday, Dean Dermot Dunne said the week acted as a reminder to Christians not to rest until all had safety and until all who had refugee status had a place to call home. “Churches have always been places of sanctuary and we pray that this country and the world become a sanctuary, a safe place,” he said.
The lessons were read by Follyvi Simon, a member of the cathedral community and Ana Moraes, NEIC Intercultural Ambassador. Prayers were led by the Revd Dr Laurence Graham of Abbey Street Methodist Church. Cherinet Ayele performed ‘The Journey of Life’ in person. The service was sung by the cathedral choir.
The preacher was Pastor Ebenezer Segatu of Birhan Evangelical Church. He preached on the Parable of the Good Samaritan [Luke 10: 25–37]. He pointed out that Jesus told the story about what happened to the man on the road to Jericho, not who the man was. Pastor Segatu also noted that those who knew about the loving God, the priest and the Levite, passed the man by while the outsider, the Samaritan, showed compassion. “Jesus showed that the right question is not ‘who is my neighbour?’ but rather ‘Am I a neighbour?’ In this challenging time we are to be neighbours to those who are in need,” he stated.
