Yahoo – AFP, Fanny Carrier with Odile Duperry in Lesbos, April 16, 2016
Rome (AFP) - Declaring "we are all migrants," Pope Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday with a message of hope for those seeking asylum in Europe and a stinging rebuke for those who closed their hearts to the desperate.
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| The pope took three Muslim Syrian families whose homes have been bombed back with him to the Vatican from lesbos (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte) |
Rome (AFP) - Declaring "we are all migrants," Pope Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday with a message of hope for those seeking asylum in Europe and a stinging rebuke for those who closed their hearts to the desperate.
His one-day
trip to Europe's migration hotspot culminated dramatically when three Syrian
refugee families, all Muslim, returned with the pontiff to Rome, where they
will be housed by the Vatican.
The pope
told reporters that his gesture was "a drop in the ocean" but hoped
that afterwards, "the ocean will never be the same again".
"All
refugees are children of God," he said aboard the papal plane on its
flight back to Rome.
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Pope
Francis welcomes a group of Syrian refugees after landing at Ciampino airport
in Rome following a visit at the Moria refugee camp on April 16, 2016 in the
Greek
island of Lesbos (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)
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The
departure of the 12 refugees was the climax of an emotional visit that saw
migrants kneeling in tears before the 79-year-old Roman Catholic leader.
"You
are not alone... do not lose hope," the pope, who was accompanied by
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the
Church of Greece, said at the Moria registration centre, where around 3,000
migrants are being held.
The vast
majority have requested asylum but will likely be deported under a
controversial agreement reached last month to tackle Europe's refugee crisis by
sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey.
'Save us,
Papa'
As the pope
was escorted through Moria to meet a select number of migrants, one man broke
into tears as he knelt at the pontiff's feet, requesting his blessing.
Another
woman who slipped past security to approach the pontiff also broke down in
tears as he paused to listen to her.
Other
migrants gathered outside held hand-made signs that read "We want
freedom", "Let my people go" and "Papa cherche a nous
sauver" ("Pope, try to save us").
A group of small children presented the pope with a dozen drawings.
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Pope
Francis, center, flanked by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual
leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, left, and Archbishop of Athens and
All
Greece Ieronymos II, head of the Church of Greece, meet migrants at the
Moria
refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. (AP
Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
|
A group of small children presented the pope with a dozen drawings.
Lesbos is
one of the first ports of call in the EU for the hundreds of thousands of
asylum-seekers who have fled war, poverty and persecution in the Middle East
and Asia across the Aegean Sea via nearby Turkey in the past year.
The
religious leaders said a prayer at Lesbos harbour in memory of the hundreds of
migrants who have drowned during the voyage in overcrowded smuggler boats.
"Merciful
God... though many of their graves bear no name, to you each one is known,
loved and cherished," the pope said.
Earlier
they signed a declaration calling on the international community to
"respond with courage" to the humanitarian crisis and calling on
religious communities to step up efforts to assist refugees.
The pope
stressed that migrants were not numbers but people with "faces, names and
individual stories" who were preyed on by "unscrupulous thugs"
and called for "resolute" efforts to clamp down on arms trafficking.
"The
world will be judged by the way it has treated you. And we will all be
accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions
that you come from," Bartholomew said.
 |
The pope
took three Muslim Syrian families whose homes have been bombed
back with him to
the Vatican from lesbos (AFP Photo/Jochen Gebauer, AFP)
|
'Worst
humanitarian disaster'
The refugee
influx has sparked fierce disagreements between EU members and brought the
bloc's system of open borders to the brink of collapse.
Lesbos has
become the focus of criticism of the EU's deal with Turkey to take back
migrants who travel to the Greek islands, in return for billions in EU cash.
All new
arrivals on the island are being held at Moria while they wait to be processed
to determine whether they can legitimately claim asylum or should be returned
as "economic migrants". Rights groups have accused Greece of turning
the centre into a detention camp.
Migrant
arrivals in Greece have drastically fallen since the agreement took effect
while the number of deaths among people making the perilous crossing has also
dropped.
Another 125
arrived via the Aegean in the last 24 hours, including 46 on Lesbos, the Greek
government said on Saturday.
The refugee
families to be taken in by the Vatican, including six children, will be
initially cared for by the community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, the Holy See said.
They come
from Damascus and Deir Azzor, an area currently occupied by jihadists, and lost
their homes to bombings, it said.
The pope
said that all 12 had papers which were in order and that he had played no part
in their selection.
"There
were two Christian families but their paperwork wasn't ready. (Religion) was
not grounds for exemption. All refugees are children of God."
Francis had
framed his visit as an exercise in raising awareness of the "worst
humanitarian disaster since the Second World War".
The former
Jesuit priest has repeatedly said he does not accept the EU's distinction
between those fleeing conflicts, like the war in Syria, and those fleeing
poverty and starvation created by global economic inequalities.
Over one
million people crossed clandestinely from Turkey to Greece in 2015 and some
150,000 have made the trip since the start of this year.
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A key part of the agreement will take effect from Sunday midnight when all
migrants arriving on the Greek islands will be designated for return to Turkey
(AFP Photo/Simon MALFATTO, Jean Michel CORNU)
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"The New Human P1" - Sep 19-20, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)
“. New Tolerance
Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.
Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."
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