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Cardinal Hollerich calls EU Bishops’ Conferences to launch relocation projects for refugees in Greece

“An invitation for the whole Church to awaken new evangelical energies of welcome in each of the member countries of the European Union”. With these words, three leading Cardinals of the Catholic Church outline in a letter to EU Episcopal Conferences a strong call for relocation projects concerning refugee families stuck indefinitely in Lesbos and other reception camps in Greece.

In the letter, H. Em. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, Archbishop of Luxembourg and President of COMECE, conveys the concerns of Pope Francis for the plight of more than 20,000 adults and over 1,100 unaccompanied minors living in precarious and overcrowded structures “in Europe but outside of the European society”.

Encouraged by the Holy Father’s words and following the successful experiences with the relocation and integration of refugee families in the Vatican City and in the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, Cardinal Hollerich invites the Church in the EU “not to remain indifferent” and to give back hope to these persons.

The letter is accompanied by the document “Guidelines on the procedure for the transfer of asylum seekers and refugees from Greece to a European country”. This document was elaborated by the Community of Sant’Egidio and provides Bishops’ Conferences with all technical information necessary to receive and integrate these persons and families.

Signatories of the letter are also H. Em. Cardinal Michael Czerny SJ, Under Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and H. Em. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Almoner of Papal Charities.