Pope asks all European parishes to take in a refugee family

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has called on European parishes and religious communities to offer shelter to a migrant family.

The Pope’s appeal came during the Sunday Angelus in St Peter’s Square.

"Every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary of Europe, take in one family" he said.

And appealing for this gesture of solidarity, he said this solidarity would start right here in the Vatican where two parishes will take in a family of refugees in the coming days.

The Pope said that as we witness the “tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees that flee death in conflict and hunger and are on a journey of hope, the Gospel calls us to be close to the smallest and those who have been abandoned”.

And reminding the faithful of the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy, he said that offering shelter to the needy is a “concrete act in preparation” for the Holy Year.

And turning specifically to European Bishops, the Pope asked them to support his appeal.
 

(from Vatican Radio)

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