Pope Francis called for an end to the “sinking of civilization” in a moving speech at a migrant camp in Lesbos, five years after his first visit to the Greek island.
Pope Francis visited the migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Sunday, to highlight the plight of refugees and call for their integration into Europe.
He has called for a return to “politics of righteousness,” saying democracy has been seriously degraded by populist politicians who have “sparkling slogans” with unrealistic solutions.
The Mediterranean “has become a cold cemetery without the memorial stones on the graves,” the pontiff told migrants in front of the camp, Sunday. This Great Basin of water, the cradle of many civilizations, now seems a mirror of death. Please, let’s stop the sinking of civilization.
Pope Francis arrived in Athens on the second leg of a visit to the Mediterranean aimed primarily at drawing attention to the plight of migrants and refugees.
In a speech at the Presidential Palace, Pope Francis quotes ancient Greek philosophers and writers such as Aristotle and Homer. He urged a return to politics that sought the common good and did not indulge in fear.
He described democracy as a complex but fundamental endeavor that requires broad participation, “while authoritarianism is quite obvious and easy populist answers seem appealing.”
.
The pope had accompanied three Syrian refugee families on his flight back to Rome. He also arranged the transfer of 50 migrants from Cyprus to Italy after his trip this week.
In a warm-hearted meeting with asylum seekers in Cyprus on Friday, the pope referred to the situation in Libya and elsewhere and said he had a responsibility to tell the truth about the suffering of refugees, many of whom were being held in conditions similar to those in Nazi and Soviet camps.
