The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged Britain to "demonstrate our shared humanity" and welcome more refugees.
Justin Welby said British people "have a long and wonderful history of offering shelter" and urged the government "to be just as generous again" in helping migrants.
"The families coming to us from Syria will be among the most vulnerable and traumatised people affected by this crisis," he wrote in an article in the Big Issue.
"But even as we start to welcome those first refugees from the Syrian camps, there are still doubts and fears. Do we have room? Do we have the money? Will our communities fragment? Are we putting ourselves at risk?
"These questions are all valid and vital - they must be asked, and answered as best we can.
"They also point to a deeper and perhaps more urgent question however: as a country, do we have the emotional and spiritual capacity to welcome those who need our help in the months and years ahead?
"I pray that we do have that capacity - the same capacity we've had for centuries when people have turned to us in crisis.
"It's always been controversial at the time. It's always been seen as too difficult. Yet each time we have risen to the challenge and benefited from the gifts those coming to us bring.
"This is a moment for all of us in the UK to demonstrate our shared humanity with those for whom daily life has become dominated by fear, violence and suffering."
He said the "harrowing" image of three-year-old Aylan al-Kurdi dead on a beach in Turkey "sent a shockwave of grief and shame around the world".
"The scale of the problem we are facing as a global human family is astonishing," he added.
"My experience, having worked in this area for many years, is that you very seldom meet people who want to be refugees. It is a desperate, awful, terrible existence. You leave home when the alternative is death."
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