The Role of Churches in Europe’s Refugee Integration
PRAGUE — The Czech Republic has one of the largest number of refugees per capita of any European nation. After the beginning of the war in Ukraine, thousands moved to the Czech Republic seeking safety following Russia’s invasion.
However, the amount of immigrants from Ukraine was increasing even before the war because people were in search of better jobs and to escape poverty and unemployment.
Far from their homeland, refugees and immigrants often face countless challenges as they deal with cultural differences, language barriers and the echoes of their past lives — especially those who witnessed the war. What helps those people feel the sense of belonging is religion. What makes them rediscover the essence of home in a foreign land is church.
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Churches, in many cases, have become more than places of worship. They have become beacons of hope, safe spaces for the healing souls with a window into the comfort of home. As of October 2022, the Czech Republic has granted Temporary Protection to 453,725 refugees fleeing from Ukraine. The country continues to register new arrivals, but the flow has considerably reduced since March 2022.
Most of them are Ukrainians, but it hasn’t always been like that. Before the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, many Ukrainian immigrants lived in the Czech Republic, particularly Prague. The country’s Interior Ministry reported that migrants make up 5.5% of the Czech population. The number of migrants in the Czech Republic has increased by 5% since 2018 — most of them made up of Ukrainians, Russians and Slovaks.
In 2019, among the top 15 countries of origin, Ukraine registered the strongest increase (6,400) to the Czech Republic. It was driven by high demand in the workforce. The Czech Republic encourages economic migration by providing special programs for immigrants or by simplification of employment conditions.
The church — in addition to the function of worshiping God — also executes the function of uniting people and creating a safe space for them and their values. The wave of Ukrainian immigrants in Canada, for example, is based around the church, where they began their diaspora. In large European cities, where many immigrants come to find better jobs, there is a tendency to create churches for them. The church becomes a place where they can come not only for praying, but for feeling at home.
Worshippers — many of them migrants by Ukraine — gather to pray at St. Clement’s Church in Prague. (Photo by Olha Kruhlii)
Paul Pavlo, a Greek Orthodox priest who has been serving in the Church of St. Clement in Prague since 2016, provided Religion Unplugged with a snapshot of the migration situation in the Czech Republic and the services churches provide.
“Different people come here: Immigrants, refugees and laborers,” he said. “We are willing to hear almost all of them. We don’t push anyone away, we don't kick them out. For example, whenever someone comes to us, we try to listen to them gently, to understand them.
When the war broke out in 2022, people began to attend church much more, he said. Prior to that, Pavlo said people came because it was hard for them in a foreign land and they wanted to feel at home.
“Because of the spiritual connection with God, the native language, the people, they didn't stay long, but they felt better,” he said.
Pavlo, who frequently traveled between Ukraine and the Czech Republic until martial law was imposed two years ago, also serves at St. Cajetan’s Church. This church — allocated by the Czech government and local authorities specifically for the Ukrainian community — only holds services there on Sundays.
St. Clement's Church, meanwhile, is located in the center of Prague. People come as early as 5 a.m. to pray. Once the war broke, people started coming to church more, he said, to pray for peace.
Paul Pavlo, a Greek Orthodox priest, serves Prague’s immigrant community. (Photo by Olha Kruhlii)
Moreover, parishioners pray for both sides of the conflict, not just for Ukraine's victory.
“People in our church don't say, ‘Bring the Russians here, and I'll kill them there.’ There is no such thing. … The point is that God’s grace should touch all people,” Pavlo said. “The church has this significant task. You see, it teaches, sanctifies and guides. And it carries the Word in Christ, carries Christ's wishes and intentions to everyone.”
Pavlo said the church’s aim is to unite not just through faith, but community with coffee get-togthers and other community events. The church, however, has also made it a point to have the Ukrainian flag inside the sanctuary.
“All day long you are at work, speaking a foreign language, meet foreigners, and then you come to church, look up, see your flag, and remember who you are,” Pavlo said, adding that he misses Ukraine very much.
Pavlo said his mother, wife and children still live in Ukraine.
A Ukrainian immigrant, a woman who only gave her name as Vasylyna, moved to Prague three years ago. Originally from Transcarpathia, a region in western Ukraine, she left before the war seeking work. An Orthodox Christian, Vasylyna met her husband in Prague and has started a family. She said she finds inner peace in church and the rituals remind her of her homeland.
“Honestly, when you go to the church, when you hear the service in the Ukrainian language, you feel calm,” she said. “I miss Ukraine a lot.”
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Salima Almazbekova is a student from Kyrgyzstan. Olha Kruhlii is a student who hails from Ukraine. Both took part in this past summer’s European Journalism Institute’s week-long training program co-sponsored by The Media Project.