Refugees

The Latest

Afghan refugees are being processed inside Hangar 5 at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Sept. 8, 2021.

USCCB, Catholic Charities ramp up efforts to welcome Afghan refugees

Sep 23, 2021

By Autumn Jones

Over the next several months, the USCCB and Catholic Charities locations across the U.S. will welcome upwards of 7,500 refugees... Read more

Pope Francis meets with a group of Afghan refugees at the Vatican on Sept. 22, 2021.

Pope Francis meets Afghan Christian whose parents were killed by the Taliban

Sep 22, 2021

By Courtney Mares

“It was beautiful,” one Afghan refugee told CNA after meeting the pope. Read more

Pope Francis greets children in the San Damaso Courtyard during the puppet Little Amal’s visit to the Vatican, Sept. 10, 2021.

Pope Francis welcomes giant puppet to Vatican

Sep 10, 2021

By CNA Staff

The 11-foot-tall puppet symbolizes unaccompanied refugee children. Read more

Pope Francis greets people after a documentary screening at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, Sept. 6, 2021.

Pope Francis greets Afghan refugees after Vatican documentary screening

Sep 7, 2021

By CNA Staff

He offered those who escaped the chaos in Kabul words of ‘affection and comfort.’ Read more

Refugee children in Kabul, Afghanistan

Christian legal group decries conditions for Afghan religious minorities, urges aid

Aug 25, 2021

By Jonah McKeown

A Christian legal group on Tuesday warned of deteriorating conditions for Afghanistan’s religious minorities, and pushed for an immediate international... Read more

Christian refugees iving in an abandoned mall in Lebanon.

Christian refugees in Lebanon live in abandoned mall amid economic crisis

Jul 9, 2021

By Courtney Mares

An NGO has documented the harsh living conditions. Read more

Pope Francis delivers his Angelus address on June 13, 2021.

Pope Francis: How often do we fixate on our problems rather than bringing them to God?

Jun 20, 2021

By Courtney Mares

In his Angelus message this Sunday, Pope Francis offered a reminder that the Lord wants us to seek his presence... Read more

Aug. 17, 2017 - A volunteer at the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas helps a Central American refugee family

US parishes must better serve hidden migrant communities, bishops hear

Jun 18, 2021

By Matt Hadro

Many parishes in the United States are unaware of the immigrant, refugee, and itinerant communities within their boundaries, the chair... Read more

Survivors and family members of African migrants who perished in a 2013 shipwreck near Lampedusa in the Mediterranean sea leave an audience with the Pope, Oct. 1, 2014.

Catholic charity: Migrant arrivals by sea tripled in Italy in 2020

Apr 20, 2021

By Courtney Mares

More than 34,000 migrants arrived by sea in 2020, up from 11,000 the previous year Read more

Sr. Victoria Kovalchuk with a refugee girl in Athens, Greece in April 2021.

'What I can do is love': This Catholic sister is a missionary to refugees in Greece

Apr 15, 2021

By Hannah Brockhaus

"I tell them: I came here to be with you in your situation. When you cry, I will be with... Read more

Pope Francis met with Abdullah Kurdi in Erbil, Iraq on March 7, 2021. Credit: Vatican Media.

Pope Francis in Iraq meets with father whose children died as refugees in shipwreck

Mar 7, 2021

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis met Sunday with a father who lost his wife and two children in a shipwreck as Syrian war... Read more

Pope Francis boards the papal plane to Iraq on March 5, 2021. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

Pope Francis meets with Iraqi refugees before flight to Baghdad

Mar 5, 2021

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis met with Iraqi refugees in Rome early Friday before his flight to Baghdad.  Read more

Pope Francis at the Wednesday general audience Nov. 11, 2020.

Pope Francis asks for prayer for Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region

Nov 29, 2020

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis has asked people to pray for Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where the United Nations has said that “a full-scale humanitarian... Read more

Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh.

New project brings psychological care to Rohingya refugee children

Nov 24, 2020

A new initiative for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is offering counseling and psychological care for children and adolescents in refugee... Read more

A detail from Timothy P. Schmalz's sculpture ‘Angels Unawares’ in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis: Care for refugees fleeing ‘viruses of injustice, violence and war’

Nov 12, 2020

Pope Francis has urged Catholics to care for people fleeing “the viruses of injustice, violence and war,” in a message... Read more

A soup kitchen for refugees in Athens.

Vatican to turn building offered by nuns into shelter for refugees

Oct 13, 2020

The Vatican said Monday that it would use a building offered to it by a religious order to house refugees.  Read more

The outskirts of the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Cardinal: Europe should be ‘ashamed’ after refugee camp fire

Sep 10, 2020

A cardinal said Wednesday that Europe should be “ashamed” after a fire devastated the continent’s largest refugee camp, leaving 13,000... Read more

Refugees are welcomed to Rome by Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio.

Catholic community welcomes its first refugees to Rome after lockdown

Jul 16, 2020

By Courtney Mares

A Catholic community welcomed Thursday the first refugees to arrive in Rome via a humanitarian corridor through the island of... Read more

United Nations Offices in Geneva, Switzerland, home of the UNHRC.

Vatican diplomat tells UN ‘gender identity’ category not necessary for refugee protection

Jul 9, 2020

By Courtney Mares

A Holy See diplomat raised concern at the United Nations in Geneva this week over the use of the term... Read more

Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh.

In crowded Rohingya refugee camps, social distancing presents challenges

Jun 28, 2020

While hand washing and social distancing have been implemented around the globe as tools to fight the spread of the... Read more