The Irish Episcopal Council for Immigrants have produced a number of resources to assist parishes in welcoming those from other countries in their liturgical celebrations. These include a welcome poster, first steps for welcoming the stranger into our parishes, prayers in different languages and Catholic Social Teaching on Migration.
This “welcome” poster in over 20 languages can be printed out and placed on a church door, parish bulletin board, or somewhere visible for newcomers to parishes to see while they walk by the church.
Parish Resource 1 – Greeting and Dismissal of Congregation in different languages
A resource in 14 languages (Latin, German, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Hungarian, Czech, Slovakian, Polish, Slovenian, Croatian) with greeting and dismissal of the congregation and the sign of the peace.
Parish Resource 2 – Welcome the Stranger into our parishes – some first steps
This resource offers seven first steps that parishes might adopt as they begin to develop a ministry of welcome to their community.
Parish Resource 3 – Prayers of Unity in different languages
This resource offers “Prayers of Unity” in five different languages (English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish).
Parish Resource 4 – Catholic Social Teaching on Migration
This resource helps us understand immigration based on Catholic social teaching, which is derived from the Gospels and the words of Christ through statements and encyclicals of the Pope.
Polish Easter Saturday Blessing
This resource is for parishes who wish to celebrate the blessing of the baskets in their parishes on Easter Saturday. This is one of the most beloved Polish traditions. Baskets containing a sampling of Easter foods are brought to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. This resource contains an introduction to the blessing of the baskets, the blessings in Polish and in English, an explanation of the symbolism of the different foods in the basket and a picture for children of the parish to colour in.
This resource contains the latest figures for visa applications, citizenship applications, applications for asylum; deportation and removals and the latest immigrant employment statistics.