His symbolic move in 2016 to offer asylum to Syrian refugees living in a camp in Mytilene and to take them with him to the Vatican on the return trip from Greece, is expected to be repeated by Pope Francis during his official visit to Cyprus on December 2. . According to DW, in view of his visit to the island, Pope Francis has expressed to the Cypriot authorities his intention to offer asylum to refugees in Cyprus and to take them with him to the Vatican. According to the same information, the intention of the head of the Roman Catholic Church was discussed in the previous days between the delegations of Cyprus and the Vatican, in preparation for the visit and the Ministry of Interior of Cyprus is already taking the necessary steps to complete the procedures. allow a certain number of refugees to travel with the pope.
Prayer with refugees and immigrants
In addition to offering asylum to refugees in Cyprus, Pope Francis is expected to send messages of solidarity during a universal prayer with refugees and immigrants that will take place on the afternoon of December 2 at a Catholic church in Nicosia. It is noted that the Pope’s actions in relation to the refugee, will take place at a time when the Cypriot Government announced a series of measures to limit the increased refugee flows, including a request to the EU to suspend the right to asylum. The Cypriot government is also dealing with complaints of informal ship re-representations without having previously considered asylum applications.
Loukianos Lyritsas, Nicosia
DW
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