Pope Francis greets a group of some 100 children gathered in the Courtyard of St. Damasus in the Vatican for an event tied to the World Day for Migrants and Refugees.
The children whom Pope Francis greeted and blessed on Friday morning had been invited into the courtyard of St. Damasus after having participated in an initiative promoted by the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in collaboration with the Diocese of Rome.
The Pope invited them to play and he spent some time in the Courtyard watching them and asking them to pray for him too.
The children had gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the arrival of the puppet Amal, a poignant symbol of unaccompanied minors on the move in search of a new home and a future.
Representing millions of young people forced to flee their countries because of war and poverty, the initiative was embraced by the Diocese of Rome and by the Scalabrinian Agency for Development and Cooperation that organized a workshop for the children who built a kite: another powerful symbol of freedom, creativity and the right of all children to play.
By Vatican News staff writer
