Hartford, Conn., Mar 1, 2009 / 11:36 am
Eleven men and women who had "been longing and thirsting for their own faith" for years in refugee camps overseas were Confirmed recently at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford.
The recently resettled Karen refugees, an ethnic minority in Myanmar, received the sacrament of Confirmation at a ceremony in the cathedral’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
Those confirmed were among 200 Karen people who came to the greater Hartford area from refugee camps located on the border between Thailand and Myanmar (formerly Burma). Some had lived in refugee camps for 10 to 20 years, said Judith Gough, director of Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services.
"Most of the Karen Catholic refugees were not able to be practicing Catholics in Thailand," said Father Daniel Akho, also from Myanmar, who ministers to the Karen people in the Hartford area.