Cardinal Vincent Nichols has called the pictures of bodies being washed up on beaches "a disgrace" to wealthy Europe.
Speaking on ITV News last night after distressing images of a dead Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach emerged across the world's media, Cardinal Nichols said that the clamour for a more generous political response was growing.
"It is a disgrace that we were letting people die and seeing bodies on the beaches when together Europe is such a wealthy place," he said. "If we take 10,000, it's a fraction of the problem.
"People are beginning to see the human face of this suffering, so it's no longer an abstract problem of people who are on the scrounge, it's not.
"It's people who are desperate for the sake of their families, their elderly, their youngsters, their children, and the more we see that the more the opportunity for a political response that's a bit more generous is growing.
"What is screaming out is the human tragedy of this problem."
His comments came as the Prime Minister David Cameron faced growing pressure from within his own party to do more to ease the refugee crisis. It was reported on Thursday morning that a handful of Conservative MPs had broken ranks from the tougher stance of the Government and called for the UK to take in more refugees.
"We must keep at front of our minds these are people, human beings, families like our own," Cardinal Nichols said last night.
Mr Cameron has insisted that the problem will not be solved by the UK taking in more migrants. He said it must be tackled at source by ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East, where thousands of migrants have fled war and conflict.
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