Migration, Migrant Chaplaincy, and Multi-Ethnic Britain

Abstract

Abstract The work of migrant or ‘ethnic’ chaplaincies is central to understanding how the Catholic Church in Britain responds to the immigration-related diversification of membership through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Despite the significance of these chaplaincies, they have received little historical attention, especially in the post-conciliar ‘era of migration’. The chapter adopts an empirically based, sociological approach, and brings together data from two separate studies of ethnic chaplaincies based primarily in London. The case studies demonstrate how the conditions of migration and the response of migrant chaplaincies have changed greatly since the 1950s. Although limited by resources, these initiatives respond to State gaps in migrant care, advocate on their behalf, and facilitate the Church’s work on informing public debate on migration.