Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, has joined other faith leaders in advocacy for the world’s 40.5 million internally displaced people.
They published an open letter Sept. 20 as world leaders prepare for this year’s General Assembly meeting at the United Nations. While there, they plan to sign a new Global Compact on Refugees. The faith leaders welcome this new compact, but say that it applies only to people who have been forced to flee across borders and not those displaced within their own countries.
More than 57 leaders have signed the letter. The majority of them are from various Christian denominations, but signatories include Jewish and Muslim leaders. They challenge U.N. member governments to correct the exclusion internally displaced people from the new global compact.
Other Anglican signatories include:
- Archbishop Justin Badi Arama (Primate of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan)
- Bishop Paul Butler (Durham)
- Bishop Gregory Cameron (St Asaph)
- Rachel Carnegie, executive director of the Anglican Alliance
- Archbishop John D. Davies (Primate of Wales)
- Bishop Nicholas Holtam (Salisbury)
- Bishops Andrew John (Bangor)
- Canon Grace Kaiso, General Secretary of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa
- Bishop June Osborne (Llandaff)
The faith leaders say that if the world is to realize the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, the international community must ensure that internally displaced people are neither forgotten nor ignored.
Adapted from ACNS
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
