Vatican takes in first refugee family

Responding to a call from Pope Francis for every Church parish to house refugees, the Vatican City yesterday said it had taken in a family that had fled the war in Syria.

The family -- a father, mother and their two children -- came from Damascus and are Melkite Greek Catholics, a Christian church with close ties to the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican said in a statement that the family, which was not named, arrived in Italy on Sept 6, the day Pope Francis made his appeal for European parishes to open their doors to refugees. The four Syrians have since asked for asylum.

The Vatican City, a micro state which sits in the heart of Rome, contains two parishes -- Santa Anna and St Peter's Basilica. The Vatican said it could not yet provide any information about a second family that is expected to be housed by the St Peter's administration.

Looking to help ease the crisis, the pope urged some 120,000 parishes across Europe to take in one family each.