berlin <u+2014><u+00a0>pope francis called on religious communities and catholic parishes across europe on sunday to take on the crush of migrants that have been pouring into the continent recently.









he said the vatican will shelter two families who are "fleeing death."









francis cited mother teresa, the european-born nun who cared for the poorest in india, in making his appeal. "faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees who are fleeing 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, adding that it's not enough to say, "have courage, hang in there."









the pope<u+2019>s plea comes as thousands more refugees from war-torn countries such as syria and afghanistan were expected to arrive in austria and germany on sunday. the migrants were traveling from hungary where they had been stranded for days as european leaders debate how to best handle the surge.









on saturday, about 7,000 people crossed the border on foot from hungary to austria. a similar amount arrived into munich's central train station by saturday evening.



















 "i appeal to the parishes, the religious communities, the monasteries and sanctuaries of all europe to ... take in one family of refugees," pope francis said after his sunday address in the vatican, according to reuters.



















 there are more than 25,000 parishes in italy alone, and more than 12,000 in germany, where many of the syrians fleeing civil war and people trying to escape poverty and hardship in other countries say they want to end up.



















 the pope<u+2019>s call was another in a series of recent public interventions by the vatican to end conflicts and reconcile differences between countries, from mideast peace meetings to brokering talks between the u.s. and cuba.



















according to reuters, the crowd in st. peter's square on sunday applauded as the pontiff, himself the grandson of italian emigrants to argentina, said: "every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary of europe, take in one family."



















 authorities in budapest had refused to let the migrants travel amid confusion from european union member states about what to do with the new arrivals.



















 europe is absorbing tens of thousands of people this year from africa, the middle east and asia who are desperate to reach the region.



















people from syria, afghanistan and eritrea fleeing conflict and repression in those nations represent the largest number of people on the move.



















 more than 3,700 people around the world have died in 2015 as they attempt to escape war, persecution and economic hardship, according to the international organization for migration.



















europe, with its relatively robust welfare states and infrastructure for asylum seekers, is better placed, many argue, to handle the influx than nations in the middle east region. persian gulf states have donated millions of dollars but have not resettled people in significant numbers. that inaction has brought them criticism from some quarters.<u+00a0>



















 australia's prime minister tony abbott said sunday his government was considering accepting more syrian refugees.









around half of syria's population of 20 million have fled the country or been displaced internally amid a civil war that has raged for over four years.









authorities in cyprus rescued 114 people sunday about 50 miles off the coast of the mediterranean island after the fishing boat they were in ran into trouble.









german chancellor angela merkel meanwhile is holding crisis talks on the thousands of refugees and migrants who want to come to germany.









 she wants other eu member states to take more refugees.









berlin estimates that up to 800,000 people may seek asylum in germany before the end of the year, far more than any other eu country, and the chancellor is also concerned that extremists may try to stoke anti-refugee sentiment.









some far-right groups in germany, for example, protested the arrival of refugees and migrants<u+00a0>from hungary in dortmund overnight.
pope calls on catholics to shelter europe's migrants
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