POPE Francis urged Christians across Europe to open up their homes to refugees as he revealed that the Vatican will take in two families "fleeing death" in the middle east.
The pontiff pledged that his tiny city state will do its part in the bid to house the hundreds of thousands of migrants descending on Europe.
He called on Catholic bishops to follow suit, saying that taking in desperate asylum seekers was a way to "express the Gospel in concrete terms".
His plea to parishes, convents, monasteries and families to take the initiative and offer to house refugees was met with rapturous applause by a crowd in St Peter's Square.
It will strengthen his reputation as a proactive pope and is the latest example of him opening up the previously detached Vatican to the poor and needy.
His grandparents left Italy to make a new life in Argentina, and Francis has repeatedly made a point of personally meeting those less fortunate than himself.
Addressing the crowds who gathered for his weekly address outside St Peter's Basilica, he said: "Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees who are fleeting 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.
"It's not enough to say 'Have courage, hang in there'.
"May every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary of Europe, take in one family, starting with my diocese of Rome."
His rallying cry came after horrific images emerged showing the youngest victims of the migrant crisis gripping Europe.
Photographs of little Aylan Kurdi's body lying on a Turkish beach provoked an outpouring of grief, with charities in Britain reporting a sharp rise in the number of families contacting them to offer up their homes to refugees.
More than 12,000 asylum seekers poured into Germany from Austria today and thousands more made the perilous crossing from Turkey to Greece as the migrant crisis showed no signs of abating.
It is not yet clear where the two refugee families destined for the Vatican will live, but it is thought they will be housed in apartments belonging to the tiny city state's two parish churches.
Vatican spokesman, the Reverend Ciro Benedettini, said authorities in the city will now decide which families to take in.
The pope is not the first famous figure to offer up his home to refugees in reaction to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Live Aid singer Bob Geldof has offered to house four families here in Britain, whilst Finnish prime minister Juha Sipila also vowed to lend out his home to those in need.
The millionaire politician, who lives in an official government residence, said his private house was virtually empty and added: "We should all take a look in the mirror and ask how we can help."
Nicola Sturgeon also said she would be "happy" to take in those in need as she launched a scathing attack on David Cameron's handling of the crisis.
She said: "I've been overwhelmed myself with messages from people across Scotland saying they personally would be happy to give a home temporarily, or for a longer period of time, to somebody fleeing Syria."
It was revealed today that Britain will now take in 15,000 Syrian refugees amid growing criticism of Mr Cameron's response to the crisis.
They will be taken directly from UN refugee camps currently operating in Syria, with the money to house them being drawn from the controversial foreign aid budget.
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