Pope adopts refugees in Lesbos

View video clip of the visit here

View video clip on the adoption here

Pope Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos on April 16 along with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, His Beatitude Ieronymos, Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, and Archbishop Fragkiskos Papamanolis, OFM Cap, President of the Greek Bishops Conference as a sign of concern and solidarity for migrants forced to flee their homelands due to war, violence, hunger and poverty. Pope Francis insisted that first and foremost these migrants are human beings and not simply statistics.

Lesbos, along with its neighboring island Kos, has been one of the primary destinations for refugees, many of whom are fleeing war in Syrian and Afghanistan, who travel to Turkey in order to make the perilous voyage across the Mediterranean to enter Europe.

Pope Francis decided to bring 12 of them on his plane back to the Vatican as an act of welcome and solidarity. Coming from Syria, all of the families are Muslim and number 12 people in total, including six children. Two of the families are from Damascus, and one is from Deir Azzor, which is now territory occupied ISIS. Their homes had been bombed.