Pope Francis calls for every parish to offer shelter as 8,000 migrants arrive

Pope Francis told his followers to open their arms to the thousands of migrants who were “fleeing death” from war or hunger on Sunday. He said the Vatican would lead the way by offering shelter to two families. Francis cited Mother Teresa, the European-born nun who cared for the poorest in India, in making his appeal in remarks to pilgrims and tourists in St Peter’s Square. “Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees who are fleeting death by war and by hunger, and who are on a path toward a hope for life, the Gospel calls us to be neighbors to the smallest and most abandoned, to give them concrete hope,” Francis said.

May every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe host a family, starting with my diocese of Rome

Pope Francis

The pope’s remarks came as an estimated 8,000 migrants and refugees arrived in Germany on the latest part of their exhausting journey to northern Europe. Some 6,000 arrived in Munich yesterday afternoon and have been joined by another 2,000 that crossed the border from Austria early on Sunday morning. Most travelled by train to Munich while others were taken farther afield to Frankfurt and Dortmund where they were given temporary accommodation, food and water. Hungary is once again filling up with new arrivals, most of whom have travelled from Syria through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia.

What will it solve if we divide 50,000 or 100,000 migrants among us, when uncountable millions will be on the way?

Hungary prime minister Victor Orban

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