Pope urges every parish to house each refugee family

POPE Francis I has called on every European parish, religious community, monastery and sanctuary to take in one refugee family, as thousands of people from war-torn countries continued to stream into Germany via Austria.

The pope said yesterday that the Vatican would open its doors to two refugee families, but provided few details as he addressed tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square.

Francis said it was not enough to say, “Have courage, hang in there”, to the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are on the march toward what he called “life’s hope”.

He called on every Catholic parish, convent, monastery and sanctuary in Europe to shelter a family, and asked bishops throughout Europe to urge their dioceses to do the same.

His comments came after about 8,000 refugees arrived in Munich over the past two days, with a further 8,000 expected to arrive yesterday.

They seemed dazed by the calls of “Welcome to Munich”, from the few dozen well-wishers remaining at around midnight, as well as by their determination to thrust chocolate bars, bananas or bread rolls into their hands.

Many of the refugees said they were fleeing the civil war in Syria, while others were from Afghanistan or Iraq.

German Interior Ministry Spokesman, Harald Neymanns, said Berlin’s decision to open its borders to Syrians was an exceptional case for humanitarian reasons. He said Europe’s so-called Dublin rules, which require people to apply for asylum in the first EU country they enter, had not been suspended.

“The Dublin rules are still valid and we expect other European Union member states to stick to them,” he said.

After days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary deployed more than 100 buses overnight to take thousands of the refugees who had streamed there from southeast Europe to the Austrian frontier. Austria said it had agreed with Germany to allow the refugees access, waiving the asylum rules.

“Every refugee I spoke to was glad they left the horrendous experience they said they had in Hungary these past few days,” Al Jazeera reported.

“People here were provided with clothing, blankets and tents.” Hungary, the main entry point into Europe’s borderless Schengen zone for refugees, has taken a hard-line, vowing to seal its southern frontier with a new, high fence by September 15.

Hungarian officials have portrayed the crisis as a defence of Europe’s prosperity, identity and “Christian values” against an influx of mainly Muslim refugees.

Budapest has been heavily criticised for its position, but the country’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said Hungary should not be blamed for adhering to the EU rules.

A “failed migration policy of the European Union” and “the series of some irresponsible statements made by European politicians” were to blame for the crisis, Szijjarto said.