Anglican Archbishop on Syrian refugees

#1124 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 13 September 2015

In their public communications on the Syrian conflict and the resulting refugee crisis, church leaders should not back away from naming the specific evil, and the specific primary victims. I welcome the statements released by Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Archbishop Glenn Davies this week.

Dr Davies called on Australians to live the parable of the Good Samaritan. He said:

Our ability to show love and mercy and provide a warm welcome to anyone in distress, regardless of their faith, must serve as a counterpoint to the brutality of the IS. Our response needs to be immediate, generous and unquestioning regardless of race, ethnicity or religion.

May God help us all to respond in that manner. Yet while we praise the Abbott government’s remarkable generosity toward Syrians, we must not forget other asylum seekers less well treated by Australia, currently languishing at enormous expense in holding camps in Nauru, Manus Island and Christmas Island.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.