Recent tragedy shapes Christmas messages
Melbourne Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier is one of several of Australia’s church leaders who referred to the recent tragedy off Christmas Island in their Christmas message.
Dr Freier will urge worshippers at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourneon Christmas Day to open their hearts to refugees, and in prepared comments said the recent Christmas Island disaster brought home the plight of the refugee. “That such a disaster should have happened at Christmas Island, just before Christmas, gives it even greater poignancy and pathos.
“Let us not forget that later in the Christmas story, Mary, Joseph and Jesus were to be refugees when they fled King Herod’s persecution.”
Uniting Church president Alistair McCrae also urged church members to “be prayerfully mindful of all who currently await assessment of their applications for asylum in Australia”.
Mr Macrae said many asylum-seekers were fleeing persecution, and their wait to see whether they were accepted to live in Australia placed them in a difficult limbo.
He said that earlier in the year he had visited the Christmas Island detention centre to see first-hand the problems faced by refugees, and he approved of government moves to release children into the community while their claims were being assessed. “For many Australians, this issue serves as an indicator of our national moral health,” he said.