Shortly after Pope Francis called on Catholics to help shelter refugees, the Archbishop of Toronto’s announced the launch of ‘Project Hope’.

The goal is to raise $3-million in the next 100 days to bring 100 families to Canada and settle in the GTA.

Cardinal Thomas Collins says ”when a family feels their only hope is to flee their homeland, to join hundreds on small drifting boats, sliding a child beneath razor wire or packing into cargo trucks, we should not only be disturbed but also ashamed.  

In the words of Pope Francis ‘migrants and  refugees are not pawns of the chessboard of humanity’.  The situation is intolerable and we must do all that we can to implore our political leaders to adopt generous strategies of sponsorship and outreach to focus on the human suffering taking place worldwide.”

The ‘Project Hope’ campaign is in addition to the Archdiocese’s private sponsorship initiative that’s already resettled 2,519 refugees since 2009.