Vatican weighs in on European refugee crisis as thousands more people arrive in Germany and Austria.
Pope Francis spoke to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.
MUNICH - September 6: Issuing a broad appeal to Europe’s Catholics, Pope Francis on Sunday called on “every” parish, religious community, monastery and sanctuary to take in one refugee family — an appeal that, if honored, would offer shelter to tens of thousands.
Calling for a “concrete gesture” ahead of a Jubilee Year of Mercy starting in December, the pope urged “every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe (to) take in a family.
In a speech to thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, the pope said it was not enough to say "have courage, hang in there" to those marching toward what he described as "life's hope."
It was Francis' first direct message to Europe — and the world — about how to embrace and integrate the largest mass migration Europe has seen since the end of World War II.
From Greece to Germany, thousands of refugees remained on the move, packing boats, buses and trains and heading north and west.
The sudden decision late Friday by Austria and Germany to throw open their borders and take in thousands of refugees unwanted in Hungary does not seem to have stilled the movement across a continent that is feeling the effects of the caldrons of conflict across the Middle East.
“Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of asylum-seekers fleeing death (as) victims of war and hunger who are hoping to start a new life, the gospel calls on us and asks us to be the neighbour of the smallest and the most abandoned, to give them concrete hope,” he said, giving the Angelus blessing in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.
It's not just about saying “have courage, be patient”, Francis — who has made poverty and migration a key theme of his papacy — told thousands of faithful gathered in the square.
“Christian hope is more combative,” he said, calling on “Europe's bishops, the true pastors to back my call in their dioceses.”
The Vatican would lead the way, he said, announcing that its two parishes would take in two refugee families “in the coming days”.
Drawing on a gospel story in which Jesus heals a deaf and mute man, the Argentine-born pontiff said a miracle had also taken place in Europe, where “we have been healed of the deafness of selfishness and the silence of retreating into ourselves.
British Finance Minister George Osborne said Europe and the UK must offer asylum to those genuinely fleeing persecution, but must also boost aid, defeat people-smuggling gangs and tackle the Syrian conflict to ease the crisis.
“The closed couple, the closed family, the closed group, the closed parish, the closed country, that comes from us, it has nothing to do with God,” he stressed.
Jean Asselborn, the foreign minister of Luxembourg, which now holds the rotating six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union, told German television on Sunday that Hungary and other former Communist nations in Central and Eastern Europe had gained not only rights but also shouldered responsibilities in joining the union.
It is important, Asselborn said, for the European Union to respond to an expected request from Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, to absorb 160,000 refugees under an agreed quota system.
A German newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, reported that under Juncker's plan, Germany would take in about 31,000 people, followed by France with 24,000 and Spain with almost 15,000. "We must do this," Asselborn said. "I think we are capable of that." — AFP
Calling for a “concrete gesture” ahead of a Jubilee Year of Mercy starting in December, the pope urged “every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe (to) take in a family.
In a speech to thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, the pope said it was not enough to say "have courage, hang in there" to those marching toward what he described as "life's hope."
It was Francis' first direct message to Europe — and the world — about how to embrace and integrate the largest mass migration Europe has seen since the end of World War II.
From Greece to Germany, thousands of refugees remained on the move, packing boats, buses and trains and heading north and west.
The sudden decision late Friday by Austria and Germany to throw open their borders and take in thousands of refugees unwanted in Hungary does not seem to have stilled the movement across a continent that is feeling the effects of the caldrons of conflict across the Middle East.
“Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of asylum-seekers fleeing death (as) victims of war and hunger who are hoping to start a new life, the gospel calls on us and asks us to be the neighbour of the smallest and the most abandoned, to give them concrete hope,” he said, giving the Angelus blessing in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.
It's not just about saying “have courage, be patient”, Francis — who has made poverty and migration a key theme of his papacy — told thousands of faithful gathered in the square.
“Christian hope is more combative,” he said, calling on “Europe's bishops, the true pastors to back my call in their dioceses.”
The Vatican would lead the way, he said, announcing that its two parishes would take in two refugee families “in the coming days”.
Drawing on a gospel story in which Jesus heals a deaf and mute man, the Argentine-born pontiff said a miracle had also taken place in Europe, where “we have been healed of the deafness of selfishness and the silence of retreating into ourselves.
British Finance Minister George Osborne said Europe and the UK must offer asylum to those genuinely fleeing persecution, but must also boost aid, defeat people-smuggling gangs and tackle the Syrian conflict to ease the crisis.
“The closed couple, the closed family, the closed group, the closed parish, the closed country, that comes from us, it has nothing to do with God,” he stressed.
Jean Asselborn, the foreign minister of Luxembourg, which now holds the rotating six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union, told German television on Sunday that Hungary and other former Communist nations in Central and Eastern Europe had gained not only rights but also shouldered responsibilities in joining the union.
It is important, Asselborn said, for the European Union to respond to an expected request from Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, to absorb 160,000 refugees under an agreed quota system.
A German newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, reported that under Juncker's plan, Germany would take in about 31,000 people, followed by France with 24,000 and Spain with almost 15,000. "We must do this," Asselborn said. "I think we are capable of that." — AFP
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