SW News: During his weekly general audience on Wednesday, December 22, the Holy Father Pope Francis received an Afghan family he met at a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos earlier this month. The pontiff had helped them relocate to Italy after learning about their youngest child’s health condition that requires expert medical attention.

Following the Holy Father’s intervention, the family was able to move to Italy where the child received immediate medical attention. During the Apostolic Visit of Pope Francis to Greece earlier this month, he had promised to help relocate several refugees to Italy and the Vatican expedited the procedure following his return.

During his general audience, he also re-emphasized his appeal to European nations at the end of his Apostolic visit to Cyprus and Greece. The Holy Father said, “All you need to do is open a door. The door of the heart. Let’s not miss doing it this Christmas.”

The Vatican joined hands with the Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community to relocate the refugees. During the pontiff’s first visit to the Greek island in 2016, he took with him 12 Syrian refugees on the return flight.