Churches offer sanctuary to refugees
More than 50 Australian churches and cathedrals had committed to offer sanctuary to asylum seekers facing deportation to off-shore detention facilities, as at press time.
And five to 10 more churches each day were looking to become involved with the Church Sanctuary Movement, the executive officer of the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce, Misha Coleman, said. The Lutheran Church of Australia is a member of and active contributor to the taskforce, which was established to ‘promote a shared Christian vision of compassion and hospitality for asylum seekers and refugees’.
Ms Coleman said two Lutheran churches had committed to be declared as sanctuaries and many more were looking into supporting the campaign in some way. She said the names and locations of sanctuary churches was being kept confidential at this stage.
The Church Sanctuary Movement was initiated by the Anglican Dean of Brisbane, the Very Reverend Dr Peter Catt, in early February in response to a recent Australian High Court ruling which backed the legality of Australia’s offshore processing regime. The ruling meant that 267 people seeking asylum (including 91 children) who had been in Australia for medical treatment, faced being sent to Nauru.
Dr Catt, who is also Chair of the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce, said he was declaring St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane a sanctuary, given the reported trauma and abuse asylum seekers could face if they were deported. St George’s Cathedral in Perth and St David’s Cathedral in Hobart were among the others to be declared sanctuaries in the first wave of support, along with churches in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and regional centres.
In response, LCA Bishop John Henderson issued a statement via the LCA’s eNews distribution network. In part, he says in the statement:
‘Offering sanctuary is a form of non-violent civil disobedience. It has been triggered as a response to repeated government policies and actions that have failed to welcome the stranger and have put innocent lives at risk. Many churches have been lobbying successive Australian governments on this issue for many years. Ultimately these Christians have felt that, since asking politely has seen little result, they need to do more. Offering sanctuary is a matter of conscience. Churches have the right to object or resist if they understand that the government is subverting its God-ordained functions. Some Lutheran congregations may choose to participate in this campaign. Others will not.’
The idea of claiming sanctuary from persecution in a church goes back to AD 600 in British tradition and there are claims that the practice has roots in the Old Testament. However, the principal rule of sanctuary has not been tested in an Australian court.
Dr Catt and some other supporters of the campaign have stated they are willing to risk possible legal penalties for offering sanctuary and/or resisting attempts by authorities to remove any asylum seekers who sought such protection.
Of those covered by the High Court ruling, the 46 people currently in community detention would be the only ones able to seek sanctuary.
The remaining 221 people are in detention centres or under alternative detention arrangements, such as under guard in hospital.
Thousands of people showed support for the asylum seekers last month by attending the Stand for Sanctuary rallies in all the Australian capital cities and regional centres across the nation.
Pastor Mark Vainikka, assistant bishop of the LCA’s Queensland District and pastor at Brisbane City St Andrew’s congregation, represented Queensland District Bishop Paul Smith at the Brisbane rally which drew more than 1000 supporters.
Pastor Vainikka said that due to its close proximity to St John’s Cathedral and their relative sizes, his church would support the cathedral in its offer, rather than declare St Andrew’s a sanctuary.
For more details you can view a release from the Churches Refugee Taskforce here.
Read Bishop Henderson’s full statement here.
