On the penultimate day of his trip to Cyprus and Greece, Pope Francis is today among the refugees still on the island of Lesbos, which he already visited on April 16, 2016. The Pontiff will go to the 'Reception and Identification Center' in Mavrovouni, the area equipped for the reception of refugees in Mytilene, the island's capital. It replaces the Mória Reception and Identification Center, better known as Mória Refugee Camp, or simply 'Mória', which was the largest refugee camp in Europe until September 2020, when it was destroyed by fire. It was located outside the village of Mória, near Mytilene, and it was there that Francis visited five years ago. The new equipped area in Mytilene is often called by the Greeks 'Mória 2.0'and welcomes thousands of people, even if less than the previous camp.
The Pope's departure by plane from Athens is scheduled at 9.15am local time, arriving at Mytilene airport at 10.10am.
Francesco will then go to the 'Reception and Identification Center' of Mavrovouni, where at 10.45 he will visit the refugees.
At 12.15 the return flight to Athens, arriving at 13.10.
In the afternoon, in the Hellenic capital, at 4.45 pm mass in the 'Megaron Concert Hall' and at 7.00 pm the courtesy visit that the Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos II will make to the Pontiff at the Apostolic Nunciature.