Their arrival coincided with a call by Francis for the faithful of Europe to do more than simply encourage refugees or be moved by their plight. Instead, he called on Catholic parishes to offer sanctuary to refugee families.
The Vatican said that the family would be staying at an apartment near St Peter’s in the Vatican and that they had immediately followed procedures to apply for asylum in Italy. That process could take years given major backlogs in the Italian bureaucracy.
Under Italian rules, the parents will not be allowed to accept paid work during their first six months after they apply for asylum but the Vatican said the family would be assisted by the St Anna parish community.
The Vatican said it would not disclose more information about the family until their asylum application was processed and asked media outlets to avoid trying to contact or interview the family.
Greek Melkites are one of nearly two dozen eastern churches in the Catholic church and followers are concentrated in Syria and Lebanon.
The archbishop of the Greek Melkite in Aleppo, Syria, Jean-Clément Jeanbart, was in the US recently to try to raise awareness about the plight of persecuted Christians in Syria. He told the Crux news site: “We are in grave danger; we may disappear soon.”
There was no other information about whether a second family was also being accommodated.
The Vatican also announced that a mobile medical clinic, which had been donated to the pope a few years ago and only been used for his events, would be made available several times a week to refugees in reception areas, including those located outside of Rome. The mobile clinic is run by volunteer doctors, nurses and members of the Swiss Guard.
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