Refugee Crisis: "Churches are for priests, not Muslims," Catholic man tells Pope Francis

Pope Francis’ call to Catholics to house refugee families has met its most shocking “opposition” yet.

Pope Francis said he will accommodate two refugee families at the Vatican.

Catholic parishioners in Castelgomberto, northern Italy, recently held a meeting to discuss the possibility of listening to the Pope’s call.

“My grandfather built that place for priests, not for Muslims,” a man got up and shouted to the horror of other attendees.

The meeting was organised by local Catholic leaders who were trying to convince residents to allow a family of refugees move into a vicarage that was no longer in use, Reuters reports.

“It was a pretty stormy meeting,” said Father Lucio Mozzo who pastors six parishes in the area.

Some locals are apparently apprehensive the influx of refugees, most of them Muslims, could bring dangerous.

Such fears are common among people who erroneously associate terrorism with Islam, experts say.

At least 150,000 people displaced by conflicts and poverty in their home countries have migrated to Europe in recent time.

The call by Pope Francis, who himself pledged to accommodate two refugee families at the Vatican, produced mixed reactions.

Many Roman Catholics, however, feel the Church which has a huge capacity to help the refugees should listen to the Pope.

There are about 120,000 parishes in Europe, with the largest number – about 27,000 – in Italy. France and Spain have about 20,000 each. Iceland has among the fewest, with six.

Refugee experts said that since a majority of those fleeing violence in places like Syria andAfghanistan are Muslim, the pope’s call was a unique opportunity to test, and hopefully improve, Christian-Muslim relations at a grass-roots level.