This weekend, October 4–5, the celebrations of the Jubilee of Migrants and Refugees will take place, held under the motto “Migrants – Missionaries of Hope.” It is an opportunity for common prayer, for experiencing the unity of the Church beyond the boundaries of language and culture, and also for recalling that Warsaw is a place where people from all over the world find support and a home.

Prayer in Mroków and in Żerań

The first point of the celebrations will be Holy Mass on Saturday, October 4, at 4:00 p.m. in the parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka in Mroków. This parish near Warsaw is one of the pastoral centers for the Vietnamese community in the metropolitan area of the capital. The main celebrations are scheduled for Sunday, October 5, at 5:00 p.m. in the parish of St. Hedwig of Silesia in Warsaw’s Żerań district. The Eucharist will be presided over by Bishop Romuald Kamiński, Ordinary of the Diocese of Warsaw-Praga. The liturgy will be celebrated in Polish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and African languages. This is a sign that the Church in the capital lives from the diversity of its faithful.

The Migrant Center – a House of Hope

The organizer of the celebrations is the Verbist Migrant Center Fu Shenfu, which for 20 years has accompanied foreigners in Warsaw. “It is a place where every person, regardless of language or culture, can come, talk, and seek help. We can say that it is an encounter with Christ – with Christ in the other person,” Father Eric Hounake Kossi SVD, a native of Togo and director of the Migrant Center, told Family News Service.

The Center conducts courses in the Polish and English languages, organizes prayer and festive meetings, and supports migrants from Ukraine, Vietnam, China, and Africa. In mid-September, another semester of Polish language courses for foreigners began. The Center is not only a space for learning and for material assistance, but above all a place for building community, where – as Father Eric says – the most important thing is “simply being together.” In this way, the Center faces one of the greatest challenges for migrants in Warsaw: loneliness and the feeling of being a stranger in a new country.

Migrants – a Gift for the Church

The Jubilee celebrations are a reminder that migrants are not only beneficiaries of assistance, but that they also bring into the life of the Church their faith, their traditions, and their hope. The motto of this year’s celebrations of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees – “Migrants, Missionaries of Hope” – refers to the motto of the Jubilee Year – “Pilgrims of Hope.” It is meant to show that it is precisely the migrants, carrying their own experiences, who become witnesses of Christ and who strengthen local communities.

Photo: Fu Shenfu Migrant Centre

Family News Service