Germany: Erfurt, 6th Catholic Refugee Summit on 3 May

The sixth Catholic Refugee Summit will be held in Erfurt on Tuesday, 3 May 2022. About 100 professionals, experts and volunteers are expected to attend from all over Germany. The main theme of this year’s refugee summit is “Shaping Integration Together”. It will be chaired by Archbishop Stefan Hess of Hamburg, Special Representative of the German Bishops' Conference for Refugee Affairs, and will begin with an exchange of views on the situation of Ukrainian refugees. Also attending the summit besides Mgr. Hess, representing Poland, will be the Auxiliary Bishop of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg, Mgr. Krzysztof Zadarko, and the President of the Council for Migration of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Andrij Waskowycz, who was the head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Initiatives of the World Congress of Ukrainians and the President of Caritas Ukraine from 2001 to 2021. Andrea Schlenker, Head of the Migration Department of Caritas Germany, will also be attending. The second part of the refugee summit will be an occasion to present the new working document of the German Bishops’ Conference titled “Recognition and Participation – 16 theses on integration”. The text summarises the Church’s experiences in helping refugees and the migratory work in the area of integration while also providing considerations about social participation and coexistence in a pluralistic environment. A debate will also be held on the basic approaches to integration through an analysis of the practical areas of Catholic integration. Other items on the agenda include a discussion on humanitarian crisis situations around the world, particularly what is taking place in Syria. At the end, Archbishop Hess will present the conclusions of the summit to the press.
Valentina Bombelli