Irish Examiner view: Comforting migrants

Papal visit

Pope Francis during his visit the Saint Dionysius School of the Ursuline Sisters in Athens, Greece. Picture: AP

It has been an energetic and impressive visit to Greece and its islands by Pope Francis who will celebrate his 85th birthday 10 days from now.

Returning to Lesbos, one of the epicentres of the illegal migration route into Europe, for the first time in five years, he blasted the indifference and self-interest of continental leaders and political opinion “that condemns to death those on the fringes”. 

Unmasked, and staring at a collection of white United Nations containers, he walked the barricades at the Mavrovouni camp, patting the heads of children and posing for selfies, and declared: “Please, let us stop this shipwreck of civilisation!” 

The Mediterranean Sea, the cradle of cultures and humanity, has become a “vast cemetery”, he said. “Let us not let our sea (mare nostrum) be transformed into a desolate sea of death (mare mortuum),” he added memorably.

While the migrant issue has been the dominant theme, Pope Francis also took aim at other targets. Warming to Homeric imagery in his descriptions of the Odyssean challenges facing people who are trafficked, he urged young people to follow their dreams and not be tempted by the consumerist “sirens” of today that promise easy pleasures.

Pope Francis said: “They want to charm you with seductive and insistent messages that focus on easy gains, the false needs of consumerism, the cult of physical wellness, of entertainment at all costs. All these are like fireworks: they flare up for a moment, but then turn to smoke in the air.” 

It is a powerful sermon for the times by a religious leader at the height of his eloquence. We should think on it.