Pursuing our Provincial Chapter commitment to collaborate with other organisations in support of refugees, a first port of call was the JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service). Some sisters, including Margaret Muldoon, had the privilege of meeting Louise Zanré who was JRS (UK) Director up to the end of last year. She stepped down from her post at the beginning of this year because of ill health, although she was continuing to work with JRS and contribute her great experience. She died on16 February deeply regretted by all who knew her.
Louise was the person that the Holy Family were in dialogue with regarding welcoming refugees into our communities in London. I first met her in November and was very impressed and inspired by her welcoming attitude, her ability to give her full attention to whoever was speaking with her, whether refugee or volunteer, and her total committed to the cause of refugees, and to upholding their dignity. She was well versed in the law and so a great help in advocating on their behalf. As one volunteer put it, “She was a very special colleague and a wonderful example of how to live a full Christian life.” In my short experience, I learnt a lot from her. The volunteers who had worked with her for years were truly shattered.
JRS has an open day every Thursday and welcomes between 70-80 asylum seekers - those who have no legal status, many of whom have been waiting for years. Some stay all day, grateful to have a welcoming place, where they can just be themselves, while others come and go. They receive a hot meal, other material aid, one to one conversations and other needs are attended to discreetly, with great respect for each one. The information given to volunteers during their induction states: “Whilst having little control over whether they will be granted leave to remain, or whether they will be deported tomorrow or even where they will be sleeping, each person needs to retain their sense of identity, an ability to make choices and find positive ways to use their time and talents.” I see this lived out at the Centre.
I am also inspired by the faith of the people who come, their resilience, their ability “to seek life” in the midst of daily struggles and despite the traumatic circumstances of their lives. While no intrusive questions are ever asked and confidentiality is a high priority - occasionally someone will share something of his/her reality and I often reflect on how difficult it would be for me to live in their shoes even for a day. It is a humbling and thought provoking experience. I am also aware that they are a small percentage of the huge and growing number of migrants in our world today.
Last Thursday, as each one arrived, he/she was informed of Louise’s death. The atmosphere was emotional all day. They were very shocked and moved, women sobbed, men sat there with eyes full of tears. These people who had experienced so much suffering in their lives reached beyond themselves to truly grieve for another. With limited knowledge of English, they struggled to write a few words of appreciation, gratitude or sympathy in a condolence book. Those who couldn’t manage to write by themselves asked for help while remaining determined to make the, often quite laborious, effort to copy what they wished to say into the book. They knew she was their friend and, in the context in which they live, this was a rare treasure.
I am reminded of the words of Pope Francis: We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voices to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them, and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them (EG 198)
No one of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice. I trust in the openness and readiness of all Christians, and I ask you to seek, as a community, creative ways of accepting this renewed call. (EG 201)
Margaret Muldoon
St. Gabriel’s Road