Pope Francis and other Christian leaders are expected to meet migrants tomorrow, in an effort to highlight the dramatic situation of refugees left in limbo on the Greek island of Lesbos. “Naturally, the Pope wants to be there in order to draw attention to the sense of solidarity and responsibility” of all Christians, said Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi. Fr Lombardi said the Pope wants to go to Lesbos for the same reasons that drew him to visit the Italian island of Lampedusa: to point to “the reality of refugees and immigrants” and because “he sees an important emergency” unfolding there. The joint visit by the Pope and two Orthodox leaders in the region also shows “that the Christian churches are united on the frontlines of major challenges, before humanitarian emergencies, problems of justice and peace in the world today,” Fr Lombardi said. The Pope will be joined by Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox, and Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all of Greece, for the day-long visit. It will be the second time in recent history that a pope has visited Greece: in 2001 St John Paul II made a historic pilgrimage that included Syria and Malta as he traced the evangelising route of St Paul. Lesbos is just a few miles from the coast of Turkey, and for years migrants and refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East have been arriving on this and other nearby islands in an effort to reach Western Europe. Around 172,000 migrants have crossed into Greece and Italy since the start of 2016, according to the International Organisation for Migration.