‘Before they are numbers, these people are human beings’: pope’s poignant visit to refugees in Lesbos

After a tour heavy on symbolism and replete with emotion, Pope Francis
shared his plane back to the Vatican with 12 refugees as he called for the
EU to learn lesson of humanity

Helena Smith in Lesbos
Saturday 16 April 2016 18.53 BST

It lasted barely five hours, began on the asphalt of an island airport, moved to a prison-like camp, stopped at a harbour and ended on the runway again. But when Pope Francis’s lightning tour of Lesbos was over on Saturday, almost nothing was as it had been before.

From the outset the leader of the Roman Catholic church’s stopover on the frontline of Europe’s refugee crisis was heavy on symbolism, replete with emotion, extraordinary in ways big and small. Yet nothing was more poignant than the manner of its ending, as Francis, with a single gesture, sent a strong rebuke to Europe’s political elite, sharing his plane back to Rome with 12 refugees who, until then, had been held like inmates on the island. Even the most hard-nosed appeared teary as his plane took off.

“This pope, he always likes to surprise,” exclaimed a reporter dispatched with Italy’s state-run RAI TV as the aircraft taxied up the runway. “Twelve refugees, half of them children, chosen by chance in the name of a man who wants to send a message.”

With the precision of a surgeon, the pontiff began to send that message from the moment he touched down. Greece, he announced, had given the world a lesson in humanity. Others should follow suit.

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