Pope Francis has taken 12 Syrian migrants back with him to the Vatican after visiting a camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.
The three families, including six children, are all Muslim and had their homes bombed during the Syrian war.
The Vatican said in a statement that Pope Francis wanted to "make a gesture of welcome'' to the refugees.
Thousands of migrants are now stuck on Lesbos after last month's EU-Turkey deal to try to ease the flow.
All of those leaving with the Pope were already living on Lesbos before the deal was implemented, the Vatican said.
They were reportedly selected from lots drawn, and will be looked after initially by the Sant'Egidio community, known for their charity work.
EPAWho are the 12 Syrians?
One family is made up of two engineers, Hasan and Nour, and their two-year-old son. They came from
Damascus and lived in Zabadani, an area near the Lebanese border that has been besieged by regime forces and heavily bombed. They fled to Turkey and took a boat to the Lesbos.
Ramy, a teacher, and Suhila, a tailor, are both in their 50s and come from Deir al-Zour, near the Iraqi border - a city attacked by so-called Islamic State. The couple arrived in Greece with their three children in February via Turkey.
Osama and Wafa come from the Damascus suburb of Zamalka. Wafa says the youngest of their two children still wakes up every night - and even stopped speaking for a time.
All had their homes destroyed by bombing, according to the Vatican.
BBC
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