Agency Report

Pope Francis on Saturday flies into Greece for the first visit by a pontiff in two decades, with Athens under high security amid anti-papal sentiment among Orthodox hardliners.

The pope’s two-day trip will see him return on Sunday to the island of Lesbos, which he last visited in 2016 during the early years of the migration crisis.

But his visit to Athens is the first by a pope since John Paul II in 2001, which in turn was the first papal visit to the city since the 1054 Schism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Francis is seeking to improve historically difficult relations with the Orthodox Church while also highlighting the plight of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers in Greece.

“I ardently long to meet you all, all, not only Catholics, but all of you,” he said in a message before embarking on his trip, which began on Thursday with a two-day visit to Cyprus.

“By meeting you, I will quench my thirst at the springs of fraternity,” he said.

Francis on Saturday will meet Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the head of the Church of Greece Archbishop Ieronymos.

He is then scheduled to see members of Greece’s small Catholic community.

“The Holy Father’s presence in Greece is a boost for us… Catholics in Greece must take advantage of it,” Markos Foscolos, parish priest of St Nicholas on the island of Tinos, told reporters this week.

Catholic numbers have been boosted in recent years, with between 50,000 and 60,000 local Catholics being joined by another 250,000 from the Philippines, Poland and African countries.