CHARLOTTE — Years of civil war and devastation in Syria have created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, pushing millions to flee their homes in search of safety. Half the country’s pre-war population – more than 11 million people – have been killed or forced to leave.
The U.S. State Department estimates resettling 13,000 of these Syrian refugees in the new fiscal year which began Oct. 1, working in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Charities agencies nationwide, among others.
In the Diocese of Charlotte, five more Syrian families arrived to safety in October, a total of 28 people. Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte officials said they expect to receive three more refugee families in November.
“They are expecting Syrians to be the number one refugee group (this fiscal year),” said Catholic Charities case manager Ashir Haji-Mohamed. “They are coming from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.”
Catholic Charities is welcoming these families and providing them with the individualized assistance they need to start new lives in the United States. Case managers work one-on-one with each family and, with some limited federal and state government financial assistance, each family is set up in an apartment and given help in finding jobs and enrolling their children in school.
“When they get here, they are very happy to be here,” Haji-Mohamed explained.
The local Syrian community in Charlotte is also assisting the new refugees. In addition to all that Catholic Charities provides with housing, clothing, food and resettlement assistance, the local community prepares food for new families for the first 10 days after their arrival.
Last fiscal year, the number of Syrian refugees who cleared the federal government’s review process and arrived in the U.S. totaled 12,391 people.
Catholic Charities’ primary goal is to help all refugees work toward self-sufficiency and eventually attain citizenship, Haji-Mohamed said.
With the assistance of Catholic Charities, refugees gain success as contributing members of the community and the local economy. Refugees pay taxes and re-pay their travel expenses. The majority of adults who are able to work are able to find jobs within three to five months, and most refugees gain financial independence within two to three years, with 60-75 percent eventually becoming homeowners.
“When you see your client who is self-sufficient and is driving and is going to work, and he doesn’t need your services anymore, it makes you very happy,” Haji-Mohamed added.
Catholic Charities resettles between 300 and 400 refugees each year from all over the world. Since 1975, the agency has resettled more than 15,000 refugees representing 27 nationalities.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter. Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte contributed.
Pictured: A child reacts inside a field hospital after air strikes Sept. 12 in Damascus, Syria. In the wake of intensified attacks in Syria, Pope Francis called for an immediate cease-fire, even if temporary, so that civilians, especially children, could be rescued from the ruins. (CNS | Bassam Khabieh, Reuters)
How can you help?
Catholic Charities encourages people to donate money to aid its refugee resettlement work. Donations of furniture and household items, as well as volunteers to pick up donations and help set up apartments, are also welcome.
MORE INFORMATION about the needs of Catholic Charities and opportunities for volunteering is online at www.ccdoc.org. Click on the “Donate” or “Volunteer” tab to see all the ways you can assist and welcome refugees.
MONETARY DONATIONS can be made online or mailed to Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203.
FOR INQUIRIES about how you can volunteer or how your parish can sponsor a refugee family, contact Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte at 704-370-3262.
CHARLOTTE — One would be hard pressed to say whose smile was wider Aug. 15, as Bishop Jugis greeted the eight young men who comprise the first class at the St. Joseph College Seminary. As the men filed past Bishop Jugis into the refectory and saw their official cassocks neatly folded on the table, each with a nametag indicating its owner, everyone's smiles grew.
Bishop Jugis stood beside the table, savoring the moment, grinning as the men realized they were receiving their cassocks before the inaugural Mass in the seminary chapel. He offered prayers and sprinkled holy water over the garments the men will wear for official events. He then went around the table, reading each of their names and touching each of their cassocks.
All eight of the college seminarians had expressions of joy on their faces as they followed the instructions to don their cassocks in preparation for Mass. They met in the chapel once they were dressed, and prepared for Bishop Jugis to enter for the blessing of the chapel.
As they waited, Bishop Jugis went from room to room blessing the seminary, assisted by Father Matthew Kauth, rector. The two paused in the hallway before a crucifix that once graced the chapel in the Diocesan Pastoral Center, Father Kauth touching the Lord’s wounded feet as he moved past.
Once in the seminary chapel, Bishop Jugis blessed an 800-year-old crucifix that now hangs on the wall to the right of the altar. He offered special prayers for the men who will study and pray at St. Joseph College Seminary now and in the future.
After the blessing of the chapel, Bishop Jugis celebrated the inaugural Mass. Father Timothy Reid, pastor of St. Ann Church; Father Matthew Buettner, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia; and Father Kauth concelebrated the Mass. Father Noah Carter served as master of ceremonies and Father Jason Christian, parochial vicar of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte, was in choir.
“As we are here to bless St. Joseph’s Seminary today, and on this feast day to give thanks and praise to almighty God for the very special privilege He bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin Mary in assuming her unto heaven, we are reminded by the readings that we have a destiny also to be with her one day in heaven,” Bishop Jugis said in his homily.
"The prayers remind us to keep our attention always fixed on the goal of our life, which is the glory of heaven, to be sharing with her – our sister in faith, our mother in faith – in the glory that the Lord bestowed on her.”
He explained that every one of us has a vocation from the Lord.
“The purpose of our life here is to serve the Lord faithfully in the vocation He has given us, so that we do arrive at that heavenly homeland He has prepared for us.”
Bishop Jugis also then addressed the inaugural class of college seminarians.
"As a seminarian, the Church gives you this time to pray and study, so that you don’t have to worry about a job and be distracted by many other things. It is a gift that the Church gives you," Bishop Jugis said to them. “In fact, your job now is to pray and to study, to deepen your spiritual life and to anchor yourself in Jesus.”
With the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary and with lives rooted in Jesus Christ, he continued, they will be strengthened in their faith -- especially during difficult times.
"Here we are at St. Joseph’s Seminary. This is Joseph's house,” he noted. “We proclaim him to be the patron of this house, the guardian and protector of this house. And just as he was the guardian and protector and provider of the holy house of Nazareth, and of the holy family, so we proclaim him to be the guardian and protector and provider of this house in Charlotte.
“And as in the house of Nazareth, Jesus was the center of attention. All the efforts of Blessed Joseph and the Blessed Mother were directed towards serving Jesus Christ. So in this house, also under Joseph’s patronage and direction, the center of attention is Jesus Christ.”
He then reminded the young men that the Blessed Mother is also with them.
“Wherever Jesus is, her destiny is always bound up with that of Jesus so she is also here with you in this home interceding for you, praying for you and accompanying you on your journey.”
During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Bishop Jugis incensed the carved wooden altar made by North Carolina artist Jacob Wolfe which houses a relic of St. Teresa of Avila. He also reposed the Blessed Sacrament for the first time in the tabernacle after Holy Communion.
“Here in Joseph’s house, we are happy to be serving the Lord our God," Bishop Jugis told the eight students at the end of Mass. "I am proud of you."
"We pray that as the Mass for today reminds us to keep our eyes on things above, so that one day, when you finish faithfully your course of your life, you may arrive at the glory in heaven prepared for you and share in the Blessed Mother’s glory."
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
Learn more and contribute to St. Joseph College Seminary at http://www.charlotteseminaryproject.org/
