Archdiocesan Migrant Advisory Group established

The five group members were selected and appointed by Archbishop Paul Martin SM for their mana, their leadership within their cultural communities and their active involvement in parish life. They underwent formation and have demonstrated a deep commitment to fostering a welcoming and inclusive Church.

Archbishop Martin commissioned the members of the group – Telesia Alaimoana, Randy Rivera Reyes, Dr Ruvimbo Bangure, Christine Philippo and Fr Thomas Rouse SSC – in September.

Fr Rouse, who is the leader of the Columban Fathers in New Zealand, said he was involved in helping to set up the group.

“One of the principal aims of this group is to help local Church or parish communities to become more welcoming towards migrants and refugees,” Fr Rouse said.

The Columban said he had come to know “many migrants who attend daily Eucharist at our chapel in Lower Hutt.

“Most of the people who have become members of our eucharistic community are recent migrants from Africa, India, Philippines and the Pacific. For many of them, there was one place where they felt secure or ‘at home’ as they grappled with the often-times terrifying experience of adapting to a new country, even as legal migrants. That place was the local Catholic church or chapel,” he said.

Fr Rouse said that to care for migrants and refugees is to care for Jesus.

“More than that, it is to recognise Jesus in our midst.”

FULL STORY

Meet the Archdiocesan Migrant Advisory Group (Archdiocese of Wellington)

I was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me (St Columba’s Mission Society)