THE head of the Irish Catholic Church has called for compassion towards migrants and refugees in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day.
Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, used his St Patrick’s Day message to call for an “honest and open” conversation about migration on both sides of the Irish border.
“Going and coming is a major feature of the modern world. Millions of people are on the move,” he said.
“Some are voluntary migrants, seeking exciting new challenges and opportunities; others, sadly, are forced to leave their homes and families, displaced by war or economic hardship.
“Still others are cruelly deceived, captured and exploited by human traffickers.”
He noted that St Patrick might well be considered “a patron saint of migrants.”
“He certainly understands the predicament of the trafficked unaccompanied minor; the exploited labourer; the escaping refugee; the immigrant, the emigrant; the expat; the student or missionary abroad,” he said.
“St Patrick wrote about enduring many hardships, hatred and insults in Ireland for being a foreigner.”
Having escaped his persecution, he added that St Patrick felt compelled to return to Ireland and make it his home.
“Today, as we think of Irish emigrants who sometimes struggled to gain acceptance in foreign lands, we also turn our hearts to the many newcomers who have arrived among us,” he said.
Asking how Ireland can live up to a welcoming reputation, he said: “Ireland - north and south - needs an honest and open conversation about migration, both outward and inward.
“How can we truly become an island of belonging and hope where our own young people, health workers and teachers want to stay, and where others want to come and live among us?
“This important discussion will only move away from the extremes when we recognise legitimate anxieties and resolve to tackle together, at national and community level, the immense challenges of providing affordable homes and services for all.”
Archbishop Martin also said that an Ireland “worthy of St Patrick” should be one which “does not tolerate hatred or racism” as well as embracing returning citizens and newcomers.
