SASKATOON, Sask. (CCN) — On the Feast of the Holy Family Dec. 28, St. Paul Co-Cathedral welcomed and blessed members of a recently arrived family, which the parish sponsored through a refugee sponsorship agreement with the federal government coordinated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon’s Office of Migration.
It was a joyful conclusion to years of preparation, process, and waiting which began nearly five years earlier when a Saskatoon couple approached the Migration Office seeking to co-sponsor a friend named Alem, and her family, who were living in dire conditions in refugee camps in the Sudan desert after fleeing the deadly civil war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
Newly arrived in Saskatoon, the sponsoring couple Roko and her husband Negasi had been helped by Alem years before when they themselves were refugees in Tigray.
In June 2021, after the diocesan Migration Office shared the story of Roko’s desire to help her friend Alem, sponsorship partners and donations were found to enable the co-sponsorship of both Alem’s family by Christ Church Anglican, Saskatoon, and a related family – Alem’s brother Goitom, his wife, and four children by St. Paul Co-Cathedral.
“They are models of – and united with – the Holy Family, who were displaced persons, who also had to journey to another country because of the politics in their home, like so many of our brothers and sisters today,” said St. Paul Co-Cathedral Pastor Fr. Stefano Penna at the beginning of Holy Eucharist on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Members of the recently arrived Eritrean Orthodox Christian family were introduced at the end of Mass by Clement Ng of the parish’s recently formed refugee and resettlement committee, before the congregation sang a blessing over the newcomers.
A welcoming group met the two families at the Saskatoon airport Nov. 4 – including representatives of both sponsoring congregations (St. Paul Co-Cathedral and Christ Church Anglican) as well as Roko and Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard, who facilitated the sponsorships as then-coordinator of the diocesan Office of Migration.
“It has been a long time coming, and these families have been through so much. I was beyond delighted to see them striding into arrivals at the airport,” said Bigland-Pritchard, now retired from the diocesan position. “They remind me of the verse in the hymn Amazing Grace: ‘Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come,‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.’”
Two days after the families arrived, Bigland-Pritchard was a guest at the first traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony to be held at Alem’s new home and was also on hand for the sharing of a welcome cake at Goitom’s new home.
“The two families will continue to face many challenges in the days ahead, and continue to need our prayers,” she noted.
“I want to say a big thank you to everyone in the Catholic Pastoral Centre and the diocese who has helped make this new start possible with your vision, gifts and prayers, and to the two settlement teams from St. Paul’s Co-Cathedral and Christ Church Anglican who will continue to walk with the families during their settlement year,” said Bigland-Pritchard.
“When we put out the call in 2021, the response was overwhelming. We had hoped to bring one family, but the response was such that we were able to bring two.”
At the same time, the need for support continues. “The budget that we asked for and raised back in 2021 is now less than enough to cover all the costs in 2025-26, due to a changing in housing availability and big increases in rent and food costs. Some top-up may be needed.”
