‘It is possible, it must be possible to balance border security with humanitarian approach to migrants’. said Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, who last Thursday presided over the prayer ‘Dying of Hope’, promoted by the Community of Sant'Egidio in St Barbara's Church in Warsaw. Many people attended the vigil, including some refugees, now integrated in Poland, representatives of other Christian Churches and members of associations actively helping migrants on the border with Belarus.
As he commented on the passage of the calmed storm from Mark's Gospel, Card. Nycz said: ‘The essence of prayer for refugees and migrants is that we must not look for obstacles in God's heart, because there are none, but we must look for them in our own heart. Our faith must grow so that, first as human beings and then as Christians, we can help those who seek refuge with us’.
The ‘Dying with Hope’ prayer has been celebrated in Poland for the past 10 years, to mark World Migrants‘ and Refugees’ Day and commemorate those who have lost their lives in an attempt to reach Europe by sea or by land in flight from war and misery. Yet also to foster a culture of welcome and to reflect on the responsibility of developing concrete and humane solutions to the momentous phenomenon of migration. The ‘Dying with Hope’ prayer was also held in Poznan at the Church of St. John Mary Vianney.
