Rome Newsroom, Mar 18, 2022 / 10:37 am
Catholic churches in Ireland are looking into the possibility of hosting Ukrainian refugees in parish halls and schools.
More than 6,600 refugees from the war in Ukraine have already arrived in Ireland, a country with a population of around five million people. A third of the new arrivals are being temporarily accommodated in hotels, according to the Irish Times.
Larysa Gerasko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland, has predicted that as many as 80,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war might end up coming to Ireland, after the country waived its visa requirement and offered a special refugee status for three years.
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh told reporters this week that the Church is in the early stages of assessing potential Church properties that could be repurposed to accommodate refugee families.