Main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras met today with Pope Francis at the Vatican and discussed the economic crisis in Greece, the migration issue and the need for politics that will re-inspire people as well as world peace. The meeting between the Pope and Tsipras lasted twice as long as planned. According to initial reports, during their 50-minute discussion, the two men talked about a wide range of subjects, but mainly about the economic crisis. “The Left and the Christian Church have different starting points but meet at the same core values: solidarity, love for the fellow-man, social justice and our wish for world peace,” Tsipras said after the meeting. The SYRIZA leader described Greece’s current situation to the Pope and spoke of a country that keeps sinking deeper into the crisis, which has now become a humanitarian crisis, and pointed out that “we need the support of wider forces across Europe” to terminate these policies. “Today I had the opportunity to discuss the economic crisis with Pope Francis. To discuss the need for politics to re-inspire people to collective values that are universal and effective against today’s dominant material values of profit and consumption,” he said. “We discussed the need for peace to return to the world, to terminate war interventions, the need to restore the value of solidarity, the need for people to be above profits. We asked him to continue fighting against poverty, talking about people’s dignity and the structural cause of poverty,” he added. The Pontiff mentioned what he called the ‘structural’ causes of poverty across the globe, pointing out that “Both in Europe and in my country, Argentina, priority was given in saving the banks and not the people,” to which Tsipras responded with a slogan of the Left, saying “People over markets,” a sentiment with which the Pope agreed. The Pope also spoke of a crisis of values, telling Tsipras, “You young politicians speak a language that is like a melody, which gives hope.”
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