The Catholic Primate, Dr Sean Brady, has criticised benefit regulations which won't allow asylum-seekers to work or take part in employment training programmes. The Government "should be aware that asylum-seekers are experiencing various forms of exclusion," he said.
He wondered if "the generations of Irish people forced to go abroad to make a living in the past had experienced similar exclusion, would they have made the contribution to the land of their adoption which we like to recall and of which we are so proud?"
He was speaking at a conference in Dublin yesterday on the theme "Responding to Racism" The conference, organised by the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace, sought to provide an outline of "good practice" for Catholics in dealing with strangers. Other speakers included Father Kieran, O'Mahony, who spoke on inclusivity in St Paul's writings, and Father Kevin Doran, who addressed the conference on "The Church and the Challenge of Racism".
Dr Brady said racism was "a matter which touches the heart of our faith".
It was not true to say there was no racism in Ireland prior to the arrival of refugees and asylum-seekers, he said. He quoted a 1972 Travellers' settlement committee report which said: "We who burn with righteous indignation at the lack of civil rights in the North blindly ignore the fact that in our own town nearly 200 Irish men and women are being denied their human and civil rights . . ."
"Racism in any of its forms is the negation of the community desired by Christ", he said. And if asked what response Catholics should make to people who differed from them in culture, race, and tradition, he would advise that they actively welcomed, that they listened and talked, and then reflected and adapted where necessary in the light of the Gospel.
