His Holiness Pope Francis on Lesbos: Stop this shipwreck of civilization
This report is also available in Arabic.
His Holiness Pope Francis on Sunday December 6, 2021, visited the Reception and Identification Centre of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, Greece. While there, he heard the testimonies of migrants, and told those present migration is a humanitarian crisis that concerns everyone.
By Vatican News staff reporter
Five years ago, His Holiness Pope Francis came to the island of Lesbos to see for himself the plight of migrants here. On Sunday, as part of his Apostolic Visit to Greece, he was greeted by thousands of migrants at the Mytilene camp on this island, telling them “I am here to see your faces and look into your eyes.”
His Holiness Pope Francis visiting the Mytilene refugee camp on Lesbos, Greece
Quoting His Beatitude Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, he said, “those who are afraid of you have not looked you in the eye… They have forgotten that migration is not an issue for the Middle East and Northern Africa, for Europe and Greece. It is an issue for the world.”
His Holiness Pope Francis underlined that migration is a “humanitarian crisis that concerns everyone.” He noted that while strides are being made to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, “all this seems to be terribly absent when it comes to migration.”
His Holiness Pope Francis visiting the Mytilene refugee camp on Lesbos, Greece
Lessons from history
“It is an illusion to think it is enough to keep ourselves safe, to defend ourselves from those in greater need who knock at our door”, His Holiness Pope Francis said. “In the future, we will have more and more contact with others. To turn it to the good, what is needed are not unilateral actions but wide-ranging policies.” History, he added, “teaches this lesson, yet we have not learned it.”
His Holiness Pope Francis visiting the Mytilene refugee camp on Lesbos, Greece
During his address, the Pope asked every man and woman, “to overcome the paralysis of fear, the indifference that kills, the cynical disregard that nonchalantly condemns to death those on the fringes.”
Little change
His Holiness Pope Francis highlighted that since his visit five years ago, little has changed with regard to the issue of migration. However, he praised those who have committed themselves to the work of welcoming and integrating migrants.
His Holiness Pope Francis and Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou visiting the Mytilene refugee camp on Lesbos, Greece
It is with deep regret, he continued, “we must admit that this country, like others, continues to be hard-pressed, and that in Europe there are those who persist in treating the problem as a matter that does not concern them.”
His Beatitude Hieronymos II and Pope Francis at the Mytilene refugee camp on Lesbos, Greece
“It is distressing to hear of proposals that common funds be used to build walls as a solution,” he said.
“Yet problems are not resolved and coexistence improved by building walls higher, but by joining forces to care for others.” …
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