Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all Greece stressed the need for pressure to be exerted by both Europeans and other allies to deal with the immigration issue, following a meeting with the Alternate Minister of Citizen Protection responsible for immigration, Georgios Koumoutsakos.
The Archbishop pointed out that “the immigration issue has been rightly described as the problem for the 21st century” and wondered “what are we doing now?”.
He replied, “First of all, we should not lose our courage. Secondly, it needs good organization, it needs cooperation, it takes a lot of hard work. The Church is in a difficult position because when a hungry person comes to her home, we are compelled by our position to give him something to eat, to stand by this man and relieve his pain. We do our duty in every way.”
He stressed, however, that everyone should understand that our borders are not somewhere else, “they are at the sea” and that there should be pressure from both Europeans and our allies, the real struggle is there, not here in Greece.”
On his part, Georgios Koumoutsakos made a special reference to the significant contribution and support of the Church of Greece, stressing that there is a continuous, steady and fruitful cooperation.