“The West makes big statements, but doesn't ensure mutual rights - I fear it will also quickly forget about Hagia Sophia” - Bishop Paolo Bizetti, apostolic vicar of Anatolia.
Winter makes life in Moria and the improvised Olive Grove camp even harder than it already is for asylum seekers, and especially for the most vulnerable.
Many of these children have escaped war and conflict only to end up in camps many of them call ‘hell’, where they say they are made to feel more like animals than humans.
Refugees and migrants who have survived years of war, violence, and deadly journeys to safety are now freezing to death on Europe’s doorstep.
Refugees are people like everyone else, who have been deprived by war of their homes, their jobs, their parents and their friends, Pope Francis stresses.
“Europe has the power to save and protect people. It’s a just question of political will to provide safe ways for people to enter Europe without risking their lives.”
“To keep letting people drown in the Mediterranean Sea is a scandal and immoral” - Tom Smolich SJ, director, JRS International.
“The recent agreement between Brussels and Ankara is an extremely unjust one. This is not about protection, it’s about deterrence.”
Pope Francis to visit the Greek island of Lesbos next week as a gesture of solidarity with migrants.
“The world urgently needs to bring peace to Syria to stop the completely unacceptable suffering of the Syrian people" - Éamonn Meehan, Executive Director, Trócaire.
“The current mass movement of people into Europe represents the most serious displacement crisis the European Union has faced in recent times."
Hammer and sickle crucifix "was not offensive to me" Pope states as he pays tribute to Fr Luís Espinal's protest art.
Francis "conveys his closeness to the Greek people, with a special thought for the many families gravely beset by such a complex & keenly felt human and social crisis”.
"Many reflective Catholics are taking up the scriptures because there they find that nourishment that keeps them in a faithful relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit."
