Pope Francis I has added the island of Mytilini to the places he will visit during his tour of Greece that is to take place in late November or early December.
The Athenian Macedonian News Agency (AMNA) reported that the pontiff, who is head of the Catholic church, will visit Mavrovouni (Kara Tepe) temporary refugee camp. The island has received the greatest number of refugees in recent years.
Catholic Archbishop Iosif Printesis of Aegean Islands and the Metropolitan for Naxos, Tinos, Andros and Mykonos arrived on the island last Wednesday ahead of the visit. A Catholic cardinal was also to arrive ahead of the visit to the island accompanied by officials of the Greek Migration and Asylum Ministry.
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In April 2016, Pope Francis visited the island where he met the Greek Orthodox patriarch Bartholomew I and Archbishop Ieronymous II of Athens and All Greece. He returned to Rome taking with him 12 Syrian Muslim refugees, including six minors, who were facing deportation. Their inclusion was interpreted as rebuke to European Union policy of sending migrants and refugees back to Turkey.