In its coverage of the final days of the Pope’s apostolic journey to Cyprus and Greece, L’Osservatore Romano emphasized that his visit to refugees on the island of Lesvos “represents without doubt the most significant moment of the journey.”

“The Mediterranean, which for millennia has brought different peoples and distant lands together, is now becoming a grim cemetery without tombstones,” Pope Francis warned. “This great basin of water, the cradle of so many civilizations, now looks like a mirror of death. Let us not let our sea (mare nostrum) be transformed into a desolate sea of death (mare mortuum).”

The Associated Press reported that “a maskless Francis took his time walking through the camp Sunday, patting children and babies on the head and posing for selfies.”

In addition to the visit to Lesvos, the Vatican newspaper highlighted the Pope’s request for forgiveness during his meeting with Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens; the Pope’s remarks to clergy, religious, and catechists at the Catholic cathedral in Athens; his Sunday Mass in an Athens concert hall; and his meeting with young people.