Pope in Bulgaria: Warm welcome at
refugee centre
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| Pope Francis at refugee camp (Vatican Media) |
The Pope visits the "Vrazhdebna" Refugee Centre
which welcomes families from Syria and Iraq
Pope Francis on Monday morning visited the
"Vrazhdebna" Refugee Centre on the outskirts of Sofia on this the
second day of his Apostolic journey to Bulgaria.
On his arrival, the Pope was welcomed by the Director of the
Centre and by the Director of Caritas.
He then went to the refectory where about 50 people,
including parents and children, were gathered.
The children who were present in the Centre come from Syria
and Iraq. After a brief greeting from a volunteer, a song performed by
the children and the gift of the children's drawings to the Pope, the Holy
Father greeted the families present and addressed a few brief words to them.
Following the visit to the Refugee Centre, the ad interim
director of the Vatican Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti said the centre visit
took place in a joyful atmosphere where the children were the real
protagonists. Gisotti added, that the Pope was very pleased with the drawings
he received.
Speaking about the Pope’s greeting to the children and
parents at the centre, the ad interim directior said Pope Francis stressed that
children always help us to better understand what is happening. They have
escaped war and misery in their own homeland, but they come to other parts of
the world with a sense of hope.
Gisotti also noted that the Pope said something very
profound: "Today the world of migrants and refugees is a like a part of a
cross, a cross of humanity, and the cross is a lot of people who suffer".
Asked about the welcome Pope Francis received from the
refugees, the press office director said that it had been very warm. “The good
thing is that we are talking about people of different nationalities, even of
different faiths, and yet we have seen these images to which you never get
used, touching images of the Pope embracing the men, women, children of these
families .”
After giving his blessing to those at the Centre, the Pope
travelled by car to Sofia International Airport. Later Pope Francis will
celebrate Mass with First Communions at the Sacred Heart Church in Rakovsky.
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