FCJ Sisters in London attend regularly the monthly Prayer Vigil for Victims of European Border Crossings in front of the Home Office. This is an excerpt about the last gathering of 2025 taken from The Tablet News Briefings Britain and Ireland section on 15 December 2025
The final ecumenical vigil of 2025 took place earlier today outside the Home Office in Central London to pray for refugees. Around 30 people were there, representing London Catholic Worker, Westminster Justice and Peace, Columban Justice, Peace and Ecology, Faithful Companions of Jesus, Sisters of the Holy Cross, Anglican Franciscans, Pax Christi, Laudato Si Animators, Quakers and several Catholic and Anglican parishes.
Names were read out of migrants who died in December 2024, trying to find a safe route to Europe from Iraq and many African countries. Sr MaryAnne Francalanza FCL said,
Saying the names and remembering the people who died hoping for a safer life, while standing in front of the Home Office, birthplace of the hostile environment, was a powerful moment. This is especially true as we remember the Christmas story, in which the Holy Family had to flee.
A reflection was given by Brother Johannes Martens. Music included Bernadette Farrell’s Advent Liturgy. Columbans led a hymn, titled ‘Welcome and Love’, written by the JPE coordinator in Britain, James Trewby. He said, Each verse of the hymn explores different aspects of welcoming refugees and migrants, grounded in Catholic Social Teaching and calling the listener to act with compassion.
