Saturday, April 16, 2016

The return from Lesbos

At the conclusion of the meeting with the citizens of Mytiene, and the prayer ceremony in memory of the victims of migration, the Holy Father, Pope Francis; Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos then traveled by minibus to the international airport.

There, Pope Francis met privately in separate encounters with His Beatitude, Ieronymos, the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece; then with His Holiness, Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and finally with the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, His Excellency, Alexis Tsipras.

Following the departure ceremony, the Holy Father departed from the international airport in Mytilene at 3:30pm local time aboard the Alitalia Airbus A320 destined for Rome.


At the moment when he left Greece, and passing over Albania en route to Italy, the Holy Father, Pope Francis had a series of telegrams sent to the respective Heads of State of those countries.


To His Excellency, Prokopis Pavlopoulos
President of the Hellenic Republic
Athens

As I depart Greece, I wish to renew my gratitude to Your Excellency and the government for your generous assistance during my visit.  With the assurance of my prayers, I invoke upon the nation and all its people Almighty God's blessings of harmony and prosperity.

Francis


To His Excellency, Bujar Nishani
President of the Republic of Albania
Tirane

I renew my cordial greetings to Your Excellency as I fly over the country on my way from Greece to the Vatican.  With the assurance of my continued prayers for all the Albanian people, I invoke the divine blessings of peace and harmony upon the nation.

Francis


To His Excellency
the Honourable Sergio Mattarella
President of the Italian Republic
Palazzo del Quirinale - 00187 Rome

Upon my return from visiting Greece, where I met the sufferings and the hopes of many people who have a right to a future of serenity and peace, I express to You, Mister President, my cordial greetings, invoking divine blessings on the entire Italian nation, that everywhere and always there may be evidenced an increasing interest for the common good.

Francis


The aircraft carrying the Holy Father landed at Rome's Ciampino airport at approximately 4:30pm local time.

Before returning to the Vatican, the Pope stopped, as he usually does, at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major to thank the Salus Populi romani for the happy completion of his visit to Lesbos.

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