Pope Francis has called on the EU to achieve greater unity in dealing with refugees.

"The European Community, torn by nationalistic egoisms, sometimes seems blocked and uncoordinated instead of being a driving force of solidarity," said the head of the Catholics on Saturday during a speech in the presidential palace in Athens.

He lamented the persistent “reluctance of Europe” in refugee policy.

On Sunday the Pope wants to meet refugees on the island of Lesbos. 

At the birthplace of democracy, Pope Francis also warned against populists and dictatorial tendencies and encouraged people to participate more in politics.

On the third day of his journey in the eastern Mediterranean, the head of the Catholic Church landed in Athens on Saturday.

There, Francis recalled the central role of the Greeks in history: "This is where democracy was born."

Pope worried about "step backwards towards democracy"

But around two and a half millennia later this is once again in danger. It was "only with concern that it is not only on the European continent that democracy has gone backwards". But democracy does not exist for free, it requires effort and patience, said the Argentine. "It is complex, whereas authoritarianism acts rashly and the simple appeasements of populism seem tempting."

A world that is technologized and more and more closely networked is required to actively strive for good politics.

It was “a change of pace necessary”, said Francis, because “reinforced by virtual communication” fears are spread and theories spread through which people do not act with but against each other.

It is not about looking at yourself, but about preferring the common good.

The Pope called it “from taking sides to participating”.

The Greeks would have shown it.

"Millennia later, the cradle became a house, a large house of democratic peoples: I am referring to the European Union and to the dream of peace and brotherhood that it represents for many peoples."

In his speech, which was peppered with references to classical authors, thinkers and scholars of antiquity such as Homer, Aristotle and Hippocrates, Francis emphasized: “Without Athens and Greece, Europe and the world would not be what they are.

They would be less wise and less happy. "

Meeting with the Archbishop of Athens

The Pope had traveled from Cyprus that morning, where he had given a speech the previous evening about the consequences and excesses of the migration crisis.

In Greece, too, the refugee issue will again be in focus when the Pope flies to Lesbos for a short visit on Sunday.

There he will meet migrants;

For an hour's stay in the provisional camp, the 84-year-old Franiskus takes on a pure travel time of four and a half hours.

The infamous Moria camp, where Francis stayed in 2016, burned down in 2020.

The migration crisis was also an issue on Saturday evening at a meeting with the Orthodox Archbishop of Athens, Hieronymos II.

The Pope encouraged Catholics and Orthodox to draw closer in the future and to work together for peace.

At the same time he renewed the apology for the crimes of the Catholics against the Orthodox in the past.

"History has its own weight, and I feel the need today to once again ask God and my brothers and sisters for forgiveness for the mistakes so many Catholics have made."

The Orthodox understand this to mean the fourth crusade in 1204, in which Catholics marched towards Jerusalem and thereby weakened the Byzantine Empire.

This was pushed back and never regained its old strength.

Twenty years ago, John Paul II first asked the Archbishop of Athens for forgiveness, referring to 1204.