Pope Francis told refugees Monday in Bulgaria’s showcase refugee centre that they are bearing the “cross of humanity,” as he pressed his call for the migrant-skeptic Balkan country to welcome poor and desperate foreigners with love.
Children from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere sang for Francis and gave him drawings during his visit to the Vrazhdebna refugee centre, located in a school refurbished with EU funds on the outskirts of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
Francis thanked the children for their joy and hope, and told them that he knows well the pain of leaving behind one’s country. He compared their suffering to the cross Christ bore.
“Today, the world of migrants and refugees is a kind of cross, the cross of humanity,” Francis said. “It’s a cross that many people suffer.”
Bulgaria’s centre-right government has been criticized by human rights groups and the European Council for its treatment of asylum-seekers, particularly unaccompanied minors….
Source: News Agency of Nigeria
