Neglects of Migrants 'Shipwreck of Civilization': Pope Francis
Pope Francis criticizes the Greek authorities' dealing with migrants from the Greek island of Lesbos, calling it "the shipwreck of civilization."
Pope Francis on Sunday condemned, from the Greek island of Lesbos, the usage of migrants "for political propaganda."
He said the root causes for migration "should be confronted - not the poor people who pay the consequences and are even used for political propaganda."
The pontiff toured the Mavrovouni refugee camp where nearly 2,200 asylum seekers live, and he expressed his sorrow over the status quo of migration. The pope had visited the Greek Island previously in 2016, and he said, "After all this time, we see that little in the world has changed with regard to the issue of migration."
"In Europe, there are those who persist in treating the problem as a matter that does not concern them," Pope Francis said.
For the second day in his visit, the pope heavily criticized those using the migrant crisis to serve their political interests.
"It is easy to influence public opinion by instilling fear of the other," he said
He also expressed his disbelief and "distress" to hear that some European leaders wanted to use common funds to build a wall and put up barbed wire to keep migrants out.
"We are in the era of walls and barbed wire," he said.
The head of the Vatican city is on a five-day visit to the Aegean Sea that will include Cyprus and Greece.