From Australia:
In the peaceful heart of Mary MacKillop Place, near where the tomb of Australia’s first saint rests, people — including nuns — gathered on Sunday to learn the principles of non-violent resistance. They were shown how to body block and deal with police in preparation for the possibility they would need to protect asylum seekers looking for sanctuary in the church from being taken by Australian Border Force officers. The North Sydney-based Sisters of St Joseph, along with more than 100 other church groups across Australia, have pledged to provide help to asylum seekers in the community who may seek refuge. This includes the 267 asylum seekers in community detention in Australia who are slated for return to Nauru. Sister Jan Barnett, social justice coordinator for the Sisters of St Joseph, said the Church’s tradition of providing sanctuary for those in need went back to the Middle Ages. “It’s been used throughout the centuries. Our congregation offered sanctuary in the 90s to the Timorese people,” she told The Huffington Post Australia. “It’s part of our culture, really. For us to be involved in it at this moment is, I think, really critical and it’s a real inspiration to me that we can do this. “It seems to me that in no way can it be moral for us to send people to situations of danger. It can’t be moral for us to abdicate our responsibility and hand it on to other countries that are really poor.”
And today we celebrate...