GBR Province – July 2010

Project Europe – our commitment for refugees & migrants

1. All our communities deal with people who are migrants, either recent or second or third generation.

2. We meet migrants mainly in our own schools and parishes. The largest numbers are in London.

3. In our schools there are students from migrant families. Parishes come across migrants of all ages.

4. Migrants come from Europe (especially Eastern Europe), Asia and Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Australia. Recent statistics are available in http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/mig0510.pdf

5. SDB involvement occurs mainly in the following areas:

   1. Our school and parish in Battersea include large numbers of families of immigrant origin. In the school there are pupils with more than 30 first languages other than English. Fr Cyril Edamana is working in the school and Fr Christopher Heaps is working in the parish, to be joined shortly by Fr Aranjo Bennett. Fr Cyril has contact with Salesian past pupils from India and their families.

   2. Fr David O’Malley has been involved in setting up links between Thornleigh Salesian College Bolton and the nearby ‘Starting Point’ centre. This centre is run by the local authority to help newly arrived immigrant families to integrate into the area and prepares the children for entry to the local schools, including Thornleigh. Students and teachers from Thornleigh visit the Starting Point Centre.

   3. Fr Michael Cunningham is involved with ‘Asylum Link Merseyside’ and the Province supports them with donations for their work with refugees and asylum seekers in Liverpool.

   4. Fr Adam Gliwinski is working with Polish immigrants in a diocesan parish in London.

   5. The young Polish Salesians who have spent one or two years with us on practical experience have been very useful when new Polish students have come to one of our schools.

   6. In London Fr Anton Cerven has been working with Slovak Catholics and other Slovak Salesians will be continuing this work in the future.

   7. Fr Ambrose Anene led Masses for Nigerian Catholics while he was here.

   8. Fr Tony Fernandes has contact with migrants from Kenya and Tanzania in Glasgow.

   9. When he was in Battersea, Fr Sergio Haro worked also with immigrants of Latin-American and Portuguese origin.

6. The GBR province has found that Salesians from other countries have been very helpful in working with ethnic communities of immigrant origin, and hopes that this can continue.

7. As you can see, our work with migrants tends to be a further dimension of our ordinary ministry in pariahes and schools. The arrival of Salesians from abroad has enable new contacts to take place, and promises well for the future.

Michael T Winstanley SDB, Provincial