Pope, Orthodox leaders to visit Greek front line of refugee crisis

Catholic Archbishop of the Greek islands of Naxos, Tinos and Mykonos, Nikolaos (3rd R) oversees preparations for a ceremony at the port, a day before the visit of Pope Francis along with Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronimos, at the city of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos April 15, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

LESBOS, Greece/VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis and the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians will set aside centuries of dispute on Saturday when they visit a Greek island on the front line of Europe's migrant crisis to highlight the plight of refugees.

Nearly a million people, many fleeing war, persecution and poverty in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have risked their lives in rickety boats from Turkey, crossing to Lesbos before heading to the Greek mainland and onwards to western Europe.