Switzerland: the Bishops give their contribution to the “United4Rescue” coalition for sea rescue efforts in the Mediterranean Sea

The Swiss Bishops’ Conference is looking “with great concern” at what is happening in the Mediterranean Sea in terms of sea rescue efforts and supports the humanitarian organisations that are already working there. It does it by giving a financial contribution of 10,000 Swiss francs to the “United4Rescue” coalition, founded by the Evangelical Church for rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean Sea.

A release issued by the Swiss Bishops mentions the initiatives that have been taken in the past in support of the inclusion of migrants. In August, for instance, Caritas Switzerland, along with other humanitarian organisations, made an appeal with Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter about “Switzerland’s involvement in the sea rescue efforts in the Mediterranean Sea”. The organisation of the Bishops’ Conference endorses such appeal and, within such context, recalls the Joint Inter-religious Declaration dated November 7th 2018 on the protection of refugees, called: “There’s always a person in front of you”. In their release, the Swiss Bishops mention and repeat what Pope Francis said at the general audience on January 8th 2020: “Let us ask the Lord today to help us to live every trial sustained by the energy of faith; and to be sensitive to the many shipwrecked people in history who come to our shores exhausted, because we too know how to welcome them with that fraternal love which comes from the encounter with Jesus. This is what saves us from the frost of indifference and inhumanity”.
Valentina Bombelli