As the universal church contemplates the message of “Widening the We” from Pope Francis — at the end of National Immigration Week and the World Day for Migrants and Refugees — Mary Lou Matheke, IPC Coordinator of Immigration Ministry in the Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity with the Archdiocese of Chicago offers these actions regarding the Afghans:
National/International
- Learn about the Afghans from the Afghans themselves. USCCB is engaged in an oral history project with refugees that has an Afghan focus. You can connect to this site at: Voices of Afghanistan.
- Support Catholic Relief Services: Afghanistan | CRS
- Sign up for the Justice for Immigrants listserv as a way to keep apprised of developments related to migration – new policies implemented, calls action, webinar announcements, etc. You can do so at https://justiceforimmigrants.org/take-action/join-us/
Catholic Charities, Chicago
- Your parish can support a refugee family—contact me directly if you would like to do this; I will put you in contact with individuals who can help you with this.
- You can donate directly to Catholic Charities:
- A link below for information for anyone who can and is willing to donate: https://www.catholiccharities.net/DonateNow/HelpAfghanFamilies.aspx
- Br. Joe Schenk from Catholic Charities will contact us with more specific needs as these needs arise
To learn more about the Immigration Ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago, click here: https://pvm.archchicago.org/human-dignity-solidarity/immigration-ministry/about-us
Also, Priests for Justice for Immigrants has created the following videos for National Migration Week:
- Father Larry Dowling: https://youtu.be/S_Z_G38gJjU
- DACA Father Steve Niskanen: https://youtu.be/S4emQHGvkNA
- Father Corey Brost on Asylum: https://youtu.be/cwS4izY8dkg
- Father Steve on undocumented https://youtu.be/5qONZ3fnG0U
- Father Corey on Taking Action: https://youtu.be/2YuG5jDZRKU