Welcoming the Stranger

Description

Hospitality is a core value of the Christian gospel and tradition. The Christian is one who is invited to respond to the hospitality of God in Christ by living a life characterised by hospitality. Throughout the ages Irish people have long been noted for their welcome but many would argue that such hospitality is extended only to their own .

Thus the Christian emphasis on a welcome for all challenges out growing fear and distrust of the stranger in our midst. In a time increasingly characterised by individualism and self-interest, Welcoming the Stranger explores notions such as self-representation and the representation of the other, accompaniment, and the recognition of human dignity; it provides reflections on multiculturalism and interculturalism within the New Ireland; it presents hospitality as a core virtue for every religious believer and as a core activity of the Church community and it relates hospitality to a number of contemporary concerns – human migration, the disablement of persons with impairments and ecological issues.