Pope Francis said young people should avoid the temptation to pursue materialist goals. He wrapped up his visit to Greece by encouraging its young people to follow their dreams and not be tempted by the consumerist “sirens” of today that promise easy pleasures.

The Pope met with students at a Catholic school in Athens in his final event of a five-day visit to Cyprus and Greece that has been dominated by his concern for the plight of migrants seeking entry in Europe. The five-day trip to Cyprus and Greece has been dominated by his call for European countries to stop building walls, stoking fears and shutting out ‘those in greater need who knock at our door’.

Pope Francis echoed a common theme he has raised with young people, encouraging them to stay fast in their faith, even amid doubts, and resist the temptation to pursue materialist goals. “Today’s sirens want to charm you with seductive and insistent messages that focus on easy gains, the false needs of consumerism, the cult of physical wellness, of entertainment at all costs. All these are like fireworks: they flare up for a moment, but then turn to smoke in the air.”

Two immigrant students were among those who greeted the pope, including an 18-year-old Syrian refugee, Aboud Gabro, who told the pope of his family’s escape from Aleppo in 2014 after a bomb exploded on their home. “It was hard being on a rock without water or food, waiting for dawn and a coast guard ship to come save us,” Gabro said. The Pope listened to his story, “a true modern-day odyssey”, and expressed gratitude that Gabro and his family had made it safely, and that after “so many refusals and a thousand difficulties, you landed in this country”.

“The meaning of life is not found by staying on the beach waiting for the wind to bring something new,” The Pope said. “Salvation lies in the open sea, in setting sail, in the quest, in the pursuit of dreams, real dreams, those we pursue with eyes open, those that involve effort, struggles, headwinds, sudden storms. So don’t be paralysed by fear: dream big! And dream together!”