Iraqi refugee youth grateful for Pope's visitCommunication on immigrants and refugees, between solidarity and fearWhen Pope Francis proclaimed a Year of Mercy in 2016, a friend and I started playing soccer every Sunday with refugees, and teaching them to speak German. In December 2016 I participated in a refugee evening organized by an organization called "Elijah 21", an interfaith group that had started in Germany to make the Gospel and Christianity known to refugees. What they were doing was showing a film about Jesus Christ, and offering themselves to anyone who was interested in learning more about Christianity. This is what we did, and I was able to meet several Muslim refugees, for whom I started a catechesis at the beginning of 2017 at the Juvavum training center in Salzburg.
Abbas was involved from the beginning. He had fled Iran, but he is originally from Afghanistan and belongs to the hazarawho has long been mistreated and persecuted in Afghanistan.
Although his German was not yet very good, he participated in catechesis with great interest and on a regular basis. He often encouraged conversations with other refugees in the asylum center, for which he was often teased. Nevertheless, he continued to come regularly to catechesis, and once brought a friend who also wanted to become a Christian.
In order to help him not only to understand Christianity, but also to live it, I had some personal conversations with him. He gladly accepted the advice for his Christian life and made a serious effort to put it into practice. For example, he always greeted the Lord in the tabernacle of the chapel before participating in catechesis, and he began to talk regularly with a priest.
After a year of catechesis, we had studied the essential contents of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. To get an idea of how interested I would be in continuing the course, I asked Abbas if he would be interested in going deeper and, if so, if he would prefer that we do this course weekly or only every two weeks. I admit that for me the weekly rhythm was quite demanding, and my idea was to ask him that from then on the course would be only every two weeks. But since Abbas expressed a real interest in having the course on a weekly basis, I decided to continue with that frequency; it was a wise decision, since the refugees desperately need the training.
Since he had been baptized in the summer of 2016 in an evangelical free church and was eager to become Catholic, I prepared him for Confirmation, which took place in May 2018, along with his joining the Catholic Church.
During one of our personal conversations, I had explained to him that it was important to strive for a good education, for the love of Jesus and to be a good professional later on. He agreed completely, and drew its consequences. As he had only attended school in Iran for four or five years, he started a compulsory school completion course, which he successfully completed after a year and a half. After that, he began an apprenticeship at the HTL, the German initials for the technical college. These studies fascinated him. He has already successfully completed two school courses and is looking forward to finishing this career.
About half a year ago, another emigrant from Afghanistan, named Nawied, came to me and wanted to become a Christian. Since, due to lack of time, it was not possible for me to give another course of catechesis, I asked Abbas, who now uses his baptismal name Esteban, to give him the catechesis, using the materials I had used in his catechesis. He did so with great joy. In a personal conversation with Nawied, he pointed out that Stephen was very knowledgeable about the Catholic faith. After six years, the second instance of the trial will finally take place to decide whether he will be granted asylum in Austria, as he has requested. I pray that he will be granted asylum.
On Pentecost 2018, an acquaintance of mine from the Loreto community (a charismatic community) approached me to inform me that a refugee named Bismillah had been "touched by the Holy Spirit," as she put it, and wanted to participate in our catechesis. I translated it for myself as "he is interested in the Catholic faith," and invited him to the course. I soon realized that my charismatic friend was right: Bismillah is a real "hotrod". From the very beginning, he followed the catechesis with great interest. When at the beginning of the meeting we refreshed the content of the last catechesis, he used to be the one who knew the most during the repetition. Even more: he talked to many friends from his refugee home about the faith he had just found, so that two of them joined the catechesis in the following months. And although it was still a short time that he had been preparing, in the summer of 2018 he participated in a "summer academy" that I organized with the aim of deepening his Catholic faith.
Soon I was able to ask him in good conscience if he wanted to be baptized, to which he responded with a resolute "yes". In early August he was accepted into the catechumenate at St. Blaise parish. At Easter 2019 he received Baptism with the name Daniel. He was also confirmed and received the sacrament of the Eucharist at First Communion. Sunday Mass, daily prayer, confession and conversation with the priest have since become regular elements of his (Christian) life.
When I offered him a weekly course to deepen his faith, he gladly accepted the offer, and continues to come weekly to Juvavum.
About a year ago I asked him, with the help of my materials, to explain the essentials of the Catholic faith to another Afghan named Asef, who spoke German very poorly and therefore did not understand the content of the catechesis well. He did so, gladly and reliably. Even more: when he learned that another Afghan named Nabi, whom he had met before, also needed this support, he offered to help him. He also did this in a very responsible way, and his friend is very satisfied.
Daniel Bismillah has found a firm place in the heart of his sponsor, who is a doctor (married, and with four daughters). The latter invited him to his home on Christmas Day 2019. Daniel Bismillah had the opportunity to attend Holy Mass with his sponsor's family, and then celebrate Christmas at their home in classic Austrian style, with a Christmas tree and traditional customs. The next day Daniel Bismillah sent me the following WhatsApp: "Dear Dieter, yesterday I celebrated Christmas with Andreas and his family. It was the most beautiful day of my life - thank you for finding me a godfather like Andreas! Very cordially, Daniel." The godfather continued to frequently invite Daniel Bismillah to his weekend house by the Mondsee. We also went on a bicycle tour together.
Shortly before Christmas 2020, after more than five years of waiting for asylum in Austria, his final asylum procedure, what in refugee jargon is called "the interview", finally took place. His sponsor and I attended as witnesses. The judge was so impressed by Daniel Bismillah that he granted him asylum on behalf of the Republic of Austria that very day.
Daniel Bismillah is very determined. In Afghanistan he worked as a farmer for his uncle, until he fled when he was about 17 years old. In Austria, he first learned German, then attended the compulsory school-leaving course and subsequently completed three courses at the HTL night school. In December 2020 he was granted asylum, and in mid-February 2021 - in the midst of confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic - he was able to find work in an electrical store thanks to the knowledge gained at that school.
Both Stefan and Daniel belong to the group of Afghans with whose help I would like to found a "Farsi community" in Salzburg, to support the efforts of refugee converts to live a Christian life through a community in which they feel comfortable and can serve as apostolic encouragement to their peers.
Salzburg
