A refugee girl plays in the ashes of a fire camp on the island of Lesbos in Greece. (Photo: AFP)
Pope Francis will visit refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, on the front line of Europe's migrant crisis, when he visits Greece later this year, officials said.
Lesbos has for years has been the main port of entry into Europe for asylum seekers and housed Moria, the continent's largest migrant camp, which the pope previously visited in 2016 but which was destroyed in a devastating fire in 2020.
The pope announced in September that he would visit Greece, Cyprus and Malta without giving a date. A source on Lesbos told AFP on Oct. 14 on condition of anonymity that the pope may arrive in late November or early December, depending on the latest coronavirus situation.
On Oct. 14, an advance party from the Vatican visited Mavrovouni, the temporary camp erected on Lesbos after Moria burnt down, to make plans for the visit.
"Having had a positive experience from his last visit to Lesbos, the Pope wishes to come to Lesbos when he comes to Greece again," said Joseph Printezis, the Catholic archbishop for Greek islands in the Aegean.
"He wishes to see the evolution of the refugee issue, the fruits of Greece's efforts and make a humanitarian statement, that the Church and all European peoples care about refugees, and that the weight borne by Greece should be recognised by the other European countries.
"The visit will only involve the camp," said Manos Logothetis, a senior official from the Greek migration ministry.
After his visit in 2016, the pope took three Syrian families, whose homes were bombed, with him on the papal plane from Lesbos to the Vatcian in what he described as a "humanitarian gesture".