Petition for a humanitarian treatment of refugees

Dear Europeans, Dear Christians, dear religious women and men,

All around the world, about 68.5 million people were on the run in 2017 because of war, violence and persecution. Access to the right to asylum in Europe is increasingly blocked, and less people find protection in Europe. Lifeboats are no longer accepted in ports, their confiscation is discussed, in Hungary a law that criminalizes aid for refugees was passed, large camps with unhuman conditions are favored as a solution, e.g. in Lesbos.

In our own country, the shift to the right is becoming ever clearer, and populists are shaping the political scene.

These days, the heads of state and government of the EU will meet for their summit.

With this petition, we want to raise our voices and call for a humanitarian policy that sees the refugees and their plight, taking our European resources and opportunities into account and putting them at the service of the people.

We call for a humanitarian approach to refugees and oppose a policy of foreclosure and internment in camps on the fringes of Europe or in the countries of origin.

At the same time we are asking you to join us in a chain of prayer. With the Pentecost sequence prayed together we implore a humanitarian refugee policy.

Come, Holy Spirit, send forth the heavenly radiance of your light. Come, father of the poor, come, giver of gifts, come, light of the heart. Greatest comforter, sweet guest of the soul, sweet consolation. In labour, rest, in heat, temperance, in tears, solace. O most blessed light, fill the inmost heart of your faithful. Without your spirit, there is nothing in man, nothing that is not harmful. Cleanse that which is unclean, water that which is dry, heal that which is wounded. Bend that which is inflexible, fire that which is chilled, correct what goes astray. Give to your faithful, those who trust in you, the sevenfold gifts. Grant the reward of virtue, grant the deliverance of salvation, grant eternal joy.

One with you, Holy Spirit Sisters / Trinity Province

Petition for humanitarian treatment of refugees

Dear Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, Dear Heads of State and Government,

We are very concerned about the political events of recent weeks and, above all, the growing hardening of asylum policy.

As people who care about the kind of Europe they live in, we plead the EU Commission urgently and call for a humanitarian approach towards all refugees. We support the efforts of a European solution and oppose any form of foreclosure policy and the internment of people in camps inside and outside Europe.