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Bishops urge migrant Filipinos in Europe to help refugees

Church leaders in the Philippines respond to pope's call to shelter refugees
Bishops urge migrant Filipinos in Europe to help refugees
Published: September 09, 2015 08:57 AM GMT
Updated: September 08, 2015 11:25 PM GMT

Filipinos working overseas are being urged to welcome and help refugees entering Europe.

This was the call made by the bishops' Commission on Migrants and Itinerant Peoples to the estimated 1 million Filipinos working in various parts of Europe.

"We open our hearts. We open our hands to accept them, to welcome them, to pray for them, and we offer what we can offer," said Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga, head of the commission, told a Philippine radio station.

Bishop Santos said Filipinos should provide assistance to those in need as a way of returning the help they received when migrating to Europe.

He also called on all dioceses in the Philippines to extend help to the growing number of refugees in Europe.

"Let us offer money," Bishop Santos said, adding that it would not be practical to send clothes or food because of the distance.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila lamented how many people continue to remain "blind, deaf, and mute" despite stories and images of the ongoing refugee situation in Europe. He cited widely circulated news photo of Alan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned trying to reach Greece. 

"Emotions of the world were stirred by the picture of a boy," Cardinal Tagle said. "It is regrettable, but we have to thank that picture because it moved many people."

The Church leaders' call comes after Pope Francis urged religious communities across Europe to do their part to stem the refugee crisis and offer sanctuary to migrant families.

President Benigno Aquino, meanwhile, announced that the Philippines is ready to help refugees from Syria.

The president said the country helped some 2,700 Vietnamese boat people who sought refuge in the Philippines in the 1970s.

The Philippines also hosted more than 1,200 European Jewish refugees who escaped from Germany during the Holocaust.

"We have proven, as a country, that we are ready to assist," Aquino said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been urging the European Union to accept up to 200,000 asylum seekers fleeing conflict zones in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

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