he Pope made a symbolic visit to refugees stranded in Lesbos amid
reports he had agreed to give ten migrants safe passage back to the
Vatican with him. Groups of children greeted Pope Francis as he arrived at the Moria migrant detention centre on the Greek island today.
The teenage boys who have made the perilous journeys from their homelands to Greece alone were lined up at the entrance, shaking the hands of the pope and two other religious leaders.
Some were holding a Syrian flag.
Greek state television ERT later reported that Francis has offered to take 10 refugees back to Italy with him after his visit.
ERT said it appears eight Syrians and two Afghans will be offered passage.
It would be a highly symbolic move at a time when Europe has stopped automatically considering Afghans to be refugees and doesn't include them among the nationalities whose asylum applications are approved.
It comes shortly after the European Union began deporting new arrivals back to Turkey under a controversial deal meant to stem the refugee flow.
The pope then meet men and women who have fled their homelands seeking refuge in Europe. Some wept as they met the pope.
One man wept uncontrollably and wailed as he knelt down before Francis on Saturday and said: "Thank you, God. Thank you. Please Father, bless me."
Children offered Francis drawings and the pope praised one little girl for her artwork, saying "Bravo. Bravo." Then as he handed it off to his staff he stressed: "Don't fold it. I want it on my desk."
As he walked by them, shaking hands with the men and bowing to the women, the refugees shouted out their homelands: "Afghanistan." "Syria."
One little boy ducked his head through a fence to kiss Francis' ring.
The Syrian refugee resettlement programme set up by David Cameron is a "great disappointment", the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has said.
It comes as Cardinal Vincent Nichols said Britain's response to the crisis was "going very slowly" and called for a major increase in the number of people being taken in.
Asked if he believed governments needed to show more humanity, the archbishop of Westminster replied: "I do."
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think we have the resources as a very rich country. Think of a country like the Lebanon and some of the other Middle Eastern countries where they have a proportion of refugees present which represents 30-40% of the population and they cope.
"We are a very rich country and I think with a greater cohesiveness between a spirit of willingness that is there among many and mechanisms which governments can put into place, we could be doing more."
He added: "There are aspects of the government policy that are commendable but I've said surely that can be speeded up. Surely in the first year we can see really how many could be taken and then multiply that by five.
"At the moment it's going very slowly and it's a great disappointment."
The Prime Minister announced plans to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees in Britain at the height of the crisis. The scheme will cost more than half a billion pounds, the Government revealed earlier this week.
Cardinal Nichols dismissed suggestions that the UK should not be taking in refugees because some Britons are struggling to make ends meet.
He told the programme: "I don't think the struggle of people in the destroyed villages in and around Mosul and other parts of Syria, those struggles are not the same as our struggles."
He added: "They are people like ourselves and they are desperate and we should open our hearts as well as our political and financial resources."
The teenage boys who have made the perilous journeys from their homelands to Greece alone were lined up at the entrance, shaking the hands of the pope and two other religious leaders.
Some were holding a Syrian flag.
Greek state television ERT later reported that Francis has offered to take 10 refugees back to Italy with him after his visit.
ERT said it appears eight Syrians and two Afghans will be offered passage.
It would be a highly symbolic move at a time when Europe has stopped automatically considering Afghans to be refugees and doesn't include them among the nationalities whose asylum applications are approved.
It comes shortly after the European Union began deporting new arrivals back to Turkey under a controversial deal meant to stem the refugee flow.
The pope then meet men and women who have fled their homelands seeking refuge in Europe. Some wept as they met the pope.
One man wept uncontrollably and wailed as he knelt down before Francis on Saturday and said: "Thank you, God. Thank you. Please Father, bless me."
Children offered Francis drawings and the pope praised one little girl for her artwork, saying "Bravo. Bravo." Then as he handed it off to his staff he stressed: "Don't fold it. I want it on my desk."
As he walked by them, shaking hands with the men and bowing to the women, the refugees shouted out their homelands: "Afghanistan." "Syria."
One little boy ducked his head through a fence to kiss Francis' ring.
The Syrian refugee resettlement programme set up by David Cameron is a "great disappointment", the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has said.
It comes as Cardinal Vincent Nichols said Britain's response to the crisis was "going very slowly" and called for a major increase in the number of people being taken in.
Asked if he believed governments needed to show more humanity, the archbishop of Westminster replied: "I do."
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think we have the resources as a very rich country. Think of a country like the Lebanon and some of the other Middle Eastern countries where they have a proportion of refugees present which represents 30-40% of the population and they cope.
"We are a very rich country and I think with a greater cohesiveness between a spirit of willingness that is there among many and mechanisms which governments can put into place, we could be doing more."
He added: "There are aspects of the government policy that are commendable but I've said surely that can be speeded up. Surely in the first year we can see really how many could be taken and then multiply that by five.
"At the moment it's going very slowly and it's a great disappointment."
The Prime Minister announced plans to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees in Britain at the height of the crisis. The scheme will cost more than half a billion pounds, the Government revealed earlier this week.
Cardinal Nichols dismissed suggestions that the UK should not be taking in refugees because some Britons are struggling to make ends meet.
He told the programme: "I don't think the struggle of people in the destroyed villages in and around Mosul and other parts of Syria, those struggles are not the same as our struggles."
He added: "They are people like ourselves and they are desperate and we should open our hearts as well as our political and financial resources."
I really dont know what
have taking over these girls lately. 2 Lagos runs girls as they are
popularly called fought and disgraced themselves in a hotel room after
one caught up with the other and her sugar daddy having good fun.
See More at : http://theinfong.com/2015/02/2-lagos-big-girls-fight-strip-themselves-naked-over-same-sugar-daddy-see-photos/
See More at : http://theinfong.com/2015/02/2-lagos-big-girls-fight-strip-themselves-naked-over-same-sugar-daddy-see-photos/
I really dont know what
have taking over these girls lately. 2 Lagos runs girls as they are
popularly called fought and disgraced themselves in a hotel room after
one caught up with the other and her sugar daddy having good fun.
See More at : http://theinfong.com/2015/02/2-lagos-big-girls-fight-strip-themselves-naked-over-same-sugar-daddy-see-photos/
See More at : http://theinfong.com/2015/02/2-lagos-big-girls-fight-strip-themselves-naked-over-same-sugar-daddy-see-photos/
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