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SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras will meet with Pope Francis in the Vatican, as announced by the press service of the party. The party headquarters emphasizes that this will be the first meeting of a leftist leader with the head of the Catholic Church.

According to the announcement, issues such as immigration, social justice, tackling unemployment and the need for peacemaking in the Middle East will be discussed at the meeting.

SYRIZA sources stress that Pope Francis, who is known as the "Pope of the poor", often criticizes the dominance of modern societies in the market and he had expressed support for the suspension of military clashes in the Gaza Strip and other troubled regions. They pay particular attention to the fact that Pope Francis perceives the cooperation between different religions as a bridge to peace.

During the meeting, Alexis Tsipras will be accompanied by SYRIZA spokesman Panos Skourletis and coordinator of the European network of organizations with left theoretical orientation Transform Walter Bayer.

A notification of the upcoming meeting appeared in Tsipras’ profile on Twitter too. It states, "A meeting with "The Pope of the poor" will take place tomorrow. We will discuss unemployment, peace, immigration." Above the pictures of the two, there is a SYRIZA definition of the event, "A meeting with a lot of symbolism at the European level."

The news has provoked various reactions on the social networks. Dozens of users sarcastically comment on the fact that the leader of the otherwise atheist SYRIZA party has held in recent months a marathon in the most symbolic areas of the Orthodox and Catholic religions.

"In August Mount Athos, in September the Pope, in October the Dalai Lama?"

"In Mount Athos first, in the Vatican tomorrow. Alexis, we expect you to bring the sacred fire of Jerusalem at Easter."

"For the first time after the schism the union of the two Churches is a fact. Mount Athos-the Vatican-Tibet. Tsipras and Skourletis."

"In a nutshell, in his next speech Mr. Tsipras will state, "I told the Pope and he agreed." Then the Pope (too) will refute."

There are also comments that the move of the left party to request a meeting with the Pope is correct, "The Pope will meet with a left leader for the first time and you are telling me that Tsipras cannot cope with the PR. He is on the right track!"

Others openly refute the pompous statements of the representatives of SYRIZA and the media who support the party, "Well, don’t those in "Avgi" (a left-winged newspaper) remember that Gorbachev was the first communist leader who visited the Vatican in 1989?"

At the same time, the Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will pay an official visit to Turkey in late November. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope has received an official invitation from the Turkish government. This will be his first visit to a Muslim country.

Several days earlier Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew had invited Pope Francis to visit Istanbul on 30th November, the day when the Orthodox Church commemorates St. Andrew. The date of commencement of the visit and its duration are not yet definitely scheduled.

The last visit of a Pope to the Ecumenical Patriarchate was in 2008. In recent years, the relations between the two Churches have improved. In 2001, Pope John Paul II visited Greece and in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI paid a visit to Cyprus.