Posted on: 11th June 2025

Sanctuary Sunday is marked at the end of Refugee Week and aims to promote the Church of Sanctuary programme, building cultures of welcome, hospitality and safety in our churches.

If you plan to hold, or are looking for an event, to mark Sanctuary Sunday or Refugee Week please register or search for an event on the Refugee Week or Refugee Week Ireland websites.

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) and Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) are also asking churches across Europe to hold services, prayers, or vigils on or around 22 June 2025, in connection with World Refugee Day (20 June), to remember those who have lost their lives on their journey to safety—whether in the Mediterranean, the Channel, at Eastern borders, or elsewhere.

Sanctuary Sunday
This year, Sanctuary Sunday is 22 June 2025.

The event aims to give expression through prayer and witness to the centrality of sanctuary and hospitality to the stranger in the Christian call to love our neighbours. At its heart, this work is about connecting people, locally and globally, with respect for the dignity of every human person as made in the image and likeness of God.

Churches are at the heart of the community reflecting the Refugee Week theme of ‘Community as a Superpower‘. Given the current ‘climate’, now is an important time for churches to engage with issues relating to asylum and refugees, with the hope of bringing more ‘light’ to an often heated conversation.

Click here for resources.