A charity has called for better protection for Christian refugees in Germany after Church officials said many face abuse in Muslim-dominated camps and reception centres.
Rachel Marsuk, a spokeswoman for Open Doors International, which helps persecuted Christians, said: “We’ve heard much about the nasty treatment of Christians, and we’re compiling a report to push politicians into action.”
“We’ve had questionnaires returned detailing how Christian refugees have been psychologically abused, physically mistreated and denied food. The scale of this problem has been covered up or played down”
Germany took in 1.1 million refugees from the Middle East and Africa during 2015 and granted 476,000 asylum requests. German newspapers have reported rapes, beatings and robberies in refugee centres as well as abusive taunts about Christianity.
Ms Marsuk said the worst abuses had been reported in Berlin and other cities. “It’s essential churches help address this problem, especially since many Christian refugees are too scared to speak out,” she added.
“Politicians at [the] local and national level here have done nothing to help and don’t want to hear about these cases. They don’t see how religious differences have fuelled tensions and led to persecution.”
Berlin archdiocesan spokesman Stefan Forner said Archbishop Heiner Koch had discussed the plight of Christian refugees at a meeting with local officials. He said many camp administrators failed to grasp the importance of religious differences and had failed to prevent anti-Christian violence. “Some people don’t even want to talk about Christians, fearing Muslims may have a problem with this,” he said.
Italians flock to Confession in St Peter’s for Holy Year
The number of people going to Confession in St Peter’s Basilica rose noticeably in the first months of the Year of Mercy, the rector of the basilica’s team of confessors has said. But Conventual Franciscan Fr Rocco Rizzo said this increase did not extend to English-speakers, who he suggested were staying away from Europe out of fear of terrorism.
Fr Rizzo told L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, that from the opening of the Holy Year he had heard about 2,000 confessions in St Peter’s. But, he said, “we are noticing that the majority of penitents are Italian. I think that is due to the alarm over terrorist attacks. This is why the English-language priests have fewer confessions.”
Fr Rizzo said more non-Catholics were coming to seek Confession as well. “They want to confess to see what it is about,” he said. While confessors can listen to and counsel non-Catholics, it is not a sacramental Confession except in special cases. Fourteen Conventual Franciscans are assigned full time to the St Peter’s confessionals, while another 30 of their confreres are supplementing their work during the Holy Year.
Huge crowd prays outside clinic
About 1,800 Catholics joined a Eucharistic procession outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Denver last week. Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver, who led the procession, said it was “truly a moment of grace, a moment of blessing”. The procession went seven times around the clinic. A spokesman said only 500 to 800 people had been expected.
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