The Pope in Cyprus: "Migrants are looking for a better life, we share hope with them"

• The pope: "We will touch wounds, but we will welcome the messages we will find"

• Pope: it will not be the walls of fear that will help Europe progress

• Pope Francis is in Cyprus: "On this journey we will touch the wounds"

• The visit of Pope Francis to Cyprus and Greece

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03 December 2021

"There is a need for Christians who are enlightened but above all luminous, who touch the blindness of their brothers with tenderness; who with gestures and words of consolation light up lights of hope in the dark". The Pope underlines this when celebrating mass in the Nicosia stadium in Cyprus. "Christians - Francis says - who sow seeds of the Gospel in the arid fields of everyday life, who carry caresses in the solitude of suffering and poverty". Bergoglio, in the course of his homily, invites us to renew fraternity: "Dear brothers and sisters, in the face of all personal obscurity and the challenges we face in the Church and in society, we are called to renew fraternity. If we remain divided among ourselves. , if everyone thinks only of himself or his group, if we do not huddle together, we do not dialogue,we do not walk together, we cannot fully recover from blindness. Healing comes when we carry wounds together, when we face problems together, when we listen and talk to each other. And the grace of living in community, of understanding the value of being a community. I ask it for you: may you always be together, always be united; go on like this and with joy: Christian brothers, children of the one Father. And I ask it for myself too. "The Pope invites the Church to be a credible witness:" It is not a question of proselytism, but of witness; not of moralism that judges, but of mercy that embraces; not of external worship, but of lived love. I encourage you to continue on this path: like the two blind men of the Gospel, let us renew theencounter with Jesus and let us go out of ourselves without fear to witness him to those we meet ".

Migrants seek a better life, we share hope with them

"Here in Cyprus I am breathing a bit of that atmosphere typical of the Holy Land, where antiquity and the variety of Christian traditions enrich the pilgrim. This is good for me, and it is good to meet communities of believers who live the present with hope, open to the future, and share this horizon with those most in need. I am thinking, in particular, of migrants in search of a better life, with whom I will spend my last meeting on this 'island, together with the brothers and sisters of various Christian confessions ", Francis said in the final greetings after the mass.

Ecumenical prayer with migrants

The last appointment in Cyprus will be ecumenical prayer with migrants. It will take place in the afternoon, in the church of Santa Croce, also in Nicosia. Tomorrow the Pontiff will leave for the other stage of the 35th apostolic journey: Greece and there the stop in Lesbos among the migrants.

There will be 50 refugees who, on the initiative of Pope Francis, will be transferred from Cyprus to Italy and all the operations concerning the transfer, hospitality in Italy and the integration path will be economically borne by the Holy See. According to well-informed sources, the first group of 12-15 people should leave before Christmas, the others will follow in January and February 2021. From a regulatory point of view, the operation is defined as a "relocation for humanitarian reasons". The accompaniment of the 50 refugees in Italy and the integration path will be handled by the Community of Sant'Egidio. Among the 50 people currently hosted in Cyprus and who will be transferred to Italy, there are nationals from Syria, Congo, Cameroon and some from Iraq.Among them also families with children.

Intersos Greece: "The Pope's visit to Lesbos will remind the world that there are people who live without dignity"

"The Pope's visit to Lesbos will remind the world that there are children, women and men closed in camps without dignity and security. '' This was stated by Apostolos Veizis, director of Intersos in Greece, on the eve of Francis' arrival on the Greek island . '' In recent days the authorities have worked for his arrival and we have seen several changes, we would like him to come more often so as not to see the fields anymore '', he adds. In the so-called Moria 2.0 camp currently live 2119 people on a total on the island of Lesbos of 2340. This settlement was set up after the fire of the great camp of Moria on September 9 last year.humanitarian organization Intersos has launched projects on mental health and psychosocial assistance for single women or women with children, often survivors of violence or in a state of severe physical-mental illness resulting from months or years of stay in the camps, in undignified living conditions, and constantly waiting for a relocation. There are women who have survived domestic violence, sexual abuse, child marriage in their countries of origin or while traveling to Europe, but many also tell our team that they were abused in the camp on Lesbos.early marriages in their home countries or while traveling to Europe, but many also tell our team that they were abused in the camp on Lesbos.early marriages in their home countries or while traveling to Europe, but many also tell our team that they were abused in the camp on Lesbos.

"Europe must put an end to the policies of refoulement, containment and prisons and must show solidarity with people seeking asylum. We are not facing a refugee crisis but we are facing a crisis of politics and a lack of political will," he says. Veizis. Intersos, together with other organizations present in Greece sent a letter to the Pope: "Your Holiness you will probably be informed by the competent Greek authorities about the new" closed and controlled "Reception and Identification Centers that are being prepared on five islands of the Aegean for the reception of asylum seekers. The first was inaugurated in Samos, then two more in Kos and Leros. We would like to share our views on these.We believe that the permanence of these human beings for many months in places of isolation, away from cities and the local population, deprives them of fundamental rights, does not help their integration and often creates vital, existential and mental problems for them ''. '' We believe that these new centers, financed exclusively by the European Union, must be completely reformed and that it changes the philosophy that inspires them, in order to guarantee the lively relationship of asylum seekers with local communities and their normal integration into them. At the same time, every possible effort must be made to ensure that asylum seekers do not lose their fundamental rights, such as access to health and education. And, above all, they do not lose their freedom and dignity ''.