Bishop compares migrant deaths to famine coffin ships

The deaths of so many migrants in the Mediterranean is reminiscent of the Irish experience of coffin ships during the Great Famine, according to an Irish bishop who has called for prayers for all those involved in the Mediterranean refugee crisis.

Bishop William Crean of the Diocese of Cloyne in Co Cork paid tribute to the Irish Naval Service for its efforts to rescue the refugees who are risking their lives in unseaworthy craft to flee conflict and strife in the Middle East and Africa.

Bishop Crean, who is Chairman of Trócaire, the overseas aid agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland, said the reports and images emerging from the Mediterranean were particularly disturbing and he echoed the call of Pope Francis for greater action by Europe.

“Almost every day we see in the media heart-breaking images of refugees fleeing from hunger, from war, from other grave dangers, in search of security and a dignified life for them and their families in Europe.

“The loss of such high numbers of innocent lives at sea resonates strongly with the Irish experience of the ‘coffin ships’ during the time of the Great Famine,” said Bishop Crean whose diocese is centred on St Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh overlooking the Naval Service HQ at Haulbowline.

Humanitarian response praised

Bishop Crean noted that many of the naval personnel on board the LÉ Eithne and the LÉ Niamh, who to date have rescued 5,024 migrants, have strong family links with the Diocese of Cloyne as he praised them for their "compassionate, humanitarian response".

“We have an obligation to safeguard the rights, the religion and the traditions of migrants fleeing persecution. Pope Francis, an outspoken advocate for greater European-wide participation in rescue efforts, reiterated in April his call for action during his July 2013 visit to the island of Lampedus.

“He issued, a “heartfelt appeal to the international community to react decisively and quickly to see to it that such tragedies are not repeated.”

“What is required is a global solution to this global crisis in order to tackle the root causes of forced migration,” said Bishop Crean.

Bishop Crean urged people in parishes across the Diocese of Cloyne, which extends from Youghal in East Cork to Ballyvourney in West Cork and encompasses most of North and Mid-Cork, to pray for all those caught up in the growing refugee crisis.

He asked people “to pray for the thousands of refugees who are undertaking the perilous voyage across the Mediterranean Sea on boats that are barely fit for purpose, for those who have perished in attempting to reach European shores and for those who are coming to the aid the refugees.”