Pope Francis lent his moral authority to efforts to stem a humanitarian crisis in Europe, calling on every Catholic parish there to take in one of the thousands of families coming to the region to flee conflict and poverty, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“May every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe host a family,” the pope told a crowd in St. Peter’s Square after reciting the traditional noon Angelus prayer.
There are approximately 120,000 parishes in Europe, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. The pope added that the Vatican itself would receive two families in the next few days.
“In the face of the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing death in war or hunger, and who are on the road to hope of life, the Gospel calls us, asks us to be near, the littlest and the abandoned,” the pope said, according to the WSJ.
Pope Francis said taking in such families would be a “concrete gesture in preparation for the Holy Year of Mercy,” which begins Dec. 8.
The Catholic Church observes so-called jubilee years for pardons and the remission of sins every 25 years and on other occasions designated by the pope, a tradition inspired by the Bible.
