22.11.2016
Dublin & Glendalough Receive Symbolic Lampadusa Cross in Honour of Refugee Housing Appeal
At a celebration of Holy Communion in the chapel of the Anglican Centre, Rome, on the Feast of St Cecilia, martyr and musician, the director of the centre, Archbishop David Moxon, presented to the Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop of Glendalough a Lampadusa Cross in recognition of the commitment of the dioceses to working with the Irish Refugee Council for the well–being of refugees arriving in the Dublin area in the future.
The Lampadusa Cross is highly symbolic and rich in spiritual meaning as a limited number of these crosses was made by an Italian man from wood from a boat that sank close to the island of Lampadusa off the Italian coast. The boat was carrying refugees and all of them perished. It is a symbol of hope in the future built on the saving work of Jesus Christ today and tomorrow as yesterday.
The Archbishop spoke of the work of the Committee established by Diocesan Councils and spearheaded by Canon Horace McKinley, Dr Sharee Basdeo and the Reverend Olive Donohoe (the Diocesan Appeal for Refugee Housing). He then handed the cross and the explanation of it given to him by Dr Moxon to Olive to bring to St Michael’s Church, Athy, where it will be housed.
Commenting, the Archbishop said: “For all of us who are members of the Dublin and Glendalough retreat and pilgrimage to the Anglican Centre, Rome, this is a moment of grace and of commissioning to service of the neighbour we know and of the neighbour we do not yet know. We seek God’s blessing and God’s guidance in this work, praying for all who are refugees, all who are trafficked and all who are humiliated to the point of degradation, destruction and death by events in Syria and the Middle East in particular. We remain mindful of all who suffer through inhuman behaviour and treatment by others across the world. We pray for the work of all agencies involved in this field and for the work of the Anglican Centre in Rome and for its sense of mission and of the Kingdom of God today”.
The Archbishop’s Prayer for Refugees is below.
Photo caption – Archbishop David Moxon presents Archbishop Michael Jackson with the Lampadusa Cross.
