An Act of Solidarity

FEBRUARY 22 2016

On Thursday February 18, about five hundred people gathered at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne to plead for the 267 people seeking asylum threatened with return to Nauru.

Sr Brigid Arthur addressed the crowd on the Cathedral steps, and during the service in the Cathedral, Bishop Vincent Long, who himself left Vietnam by boat to seek protection from persecution, criticised Australia’s brutal policy towards asylum seekers. He appealed to the Christian tradition of care for the most despised and vulnerable members of society, and called on the Government to show compassion.

At the end of the service, children bearing pictures of children carried them to the front of the Cathed
ral, and the congregation surrounded them with candles. It was a moving statement of our commitment to accompany the people threatened with despatch to Nauru

in our hearts, minds and memories.

After the Service members of the congregation tied coloured ribbons to the cathedral gates, as a symbol of their solidarity for the 267.

You can find out action featured on SBS News here (fast forward to 6.15 minutes).