The Vatican says Pope Francis has dispatched a close aide to the Greek island of Lesvos to bring back 33 asylum-seekers to Rome. During his visit to Moria in 2016, the Pope had taken three Syrian families, a total of 12 people with six children among them, to the Holy Sea.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almsgiver, headed Monday to Lesvos. The Vatican says he’ll return Wednesday with the migrants.
When returning to Italy from visiting Lesvos in 2016, Francis took three Syrian families of asylum-seekers with him aboard his flight.
Francis asked Krajewski to go to “renew solidarity to the Greek people and to the refugees.”
The pope, according to the Vatican, wants to make “a further gesture of solidarity” in hosting young refugees and families from Afghanistan, Cameroon and Togo.
Ten more refugees will be brought to Italy from Lesvos later this month.
UN officials say minors risk exploitation at overcrowded migrant camps on Greek islands, notes the Associated Press.
Pope Francis frequently sends his closed aide to the camp of Moria bringing aid. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski last visited Moria in last May.
