ON Saturday, June 18, St Vincent's Church in Altrincham will welcome an unusual visitor - a simple wooden cross with immense significance.
It is a Lampedusa Cross which takes its name from the small Italian island where many thousands of refugees have fled - or drowned in the attempt.
Francesco Tuccio, a carpenter who lives on the island, was so moved that he carved crosses out of the driftwood of capsized refugee boats.
Those crosses are now visiting churches throughout the country and will reside in each for a week to raise awareness of the plight of refugees and encourage practical actions to help.
The national event is being organised by CAFOD, the Catholic Church's Agency for Overseas Development.
Parishioners at St Vincent's will be offered cards containing these powerful words of Pope Francis written after he had visited Lampedusa: "We ourselves need to see, and then enable others to see, that migrants and refugees are brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved."
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