He was followed by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece Ieronymos, who both greeted the pope with a kiss on each cheek before the Greek and Italian national anthems were played. And then they went to the island’s main port to pray together and toss a floral wreath into the sea in memory of those who didn’t make the journey.
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DW correspondent Bernd Riegert is on Lesbos.
Francis said earlier this week that the goal of his trip was “to show closeness and solidarity with the refugees as well as the citizens of Lesbos and to all the Greek people who have been so generous in their welcome”.
Francis has framed his visit as an awareness-raising exercise and his spokesman insisted this week that its goal was “strictly humanitarian and ecumenical, not political”. Assisted by police officers sent from across the EU, Greece has so far deported 325 migrants, most on small ferries from Lesbos, which lies just 8 kilometers (6 miles) from Turkey. “A lot of these people I’ve talked to said they didn’t have milk for the children, they didn’t have blankets, and many people were actually sleeping outside”.
The refugees are expected to be among “vulnerable groups” who arrived on the Greek island before an EU-Turkey deportation deal took effect in March.
The head of Lesbos’ tiny Catholic community was also present.
“You have endured much suffering in your search for a better life”, the Pope said.
The visit is meant to highlight the plight of refugees, thank the Greek people who have welcomed them in, and to show a united Christian response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding.
Today, the three leaders will visit Moria, a sprawling, fenced complex holding more than 3,000 refugees since the European Union and Turkey reached a deal last month to stem the flow.
However, the Vatican official in charge of migrants, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, has said the EU-Turkey plan treats migrants as merchandise and fails to recognise their dignity as human beings. But the image of Francis meeting with refugees slated for deportation will bring the controversy back to the world’s attention.
On a 2013 visit to Lampedusa, the Italian island which has witnessed several deadly sinkings of migrant boats off its shores, the pope made one of the defining speeches of his papacy, denouncing the “globalisation of indifference” which has allowed thousands to perish at sea.
Turkey has agreed to take them in return for billions in euros, a deal that has angered many rights activists.
Aside from the inherently political nature of the trip, it also has a significant religious dimension.
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He has been joined by Patriarch Bartholomew and the Archbishop of Athens, Ieronimos II. A woman told the pope that her husband was in Germany, but that she was stuck with her two sons in Lesbos. He credited Greece’s politicians with their willingness to let the religious leaders take center stage as an “appreciated” gesture of discretion.
