Pope Leo XIV Visits Lampedusa on Fourth of July
LAMPEDUSA, Sicily – Pope Leo XIV, who has been vocal about the need to uphold the dignity of migrants, particularly in the face of the Trump administration’s mass deportation program in his native Chicago, spent the Fourth of July in the epicenter of Europe’s migration debate. The history’s first U.S.-born pope traveled to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to pray at a migrant cemetery and celebrate a solemn Mass for the island’s newest arrivals.
While the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with rallies, parties, and fireworks, Pope Leo XIV chose to honor the tens of thousands of people who have died trying to reach Europe to find freedom and prosperity. His visit sent a powerfully symbolic message to the United States and Europe of the Christian obligation to uphold the dignity of every human being, migrants and the most vulnerable especially.
In a letter sent to Americans on the July 4 anniversary, Pope Leo XIV insisted that protecting the unborn and all human life also means ‘welcoming protecting and assisting immigrants, whose hopes, sacrifices, and contribution have formed part of the history of this country from its very beginning.’ He emphasized that ‘to receive them with compassion and generosity is not only an act of charity, but also a recognition of the dignity that belongs to every human person.’
Background of Lampedusa and Europe’s Migration Debate
Lampedusa, a treeless strip of rock 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) long, is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland and is the main port of entry into Europe for hundreds of thousands of migrants smuggled by boat from Libya or Tunisia. In recent years, Lampedusa has become Ground Zero of Europe’s migration debate as the continent struggles to police its borders while honoring its legal obligations to welcome refugees fleeing conflict, climate change, and poverty.
The International Organization of Migration has recorded more than 35,000 missing migrants in the Mediterranean since 2014, though the actual number of dead is believed to be far higher given the untold number of ‘invisible’ shipwrecks that are never recorded. Pope Leo XIV has strongly emphasized the need to uphold the dignity of migrants, especially amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation program in his native Chicago.
Last month, Pope Leo XIV visited another European migration hot spot, in Spain’s Canary Islands, to shame leaders who turn migrants away indifferently while also warning people smugglers they will face God’s wrath for exploiting the desperation of migrants.
The International Rescue Committee estimates that there are 118 million people worldwide who have been forcibly displaced this year alone. The pope’s visit comes just two weeks after the European Union began implementing a new set of rules governing how each of its 27 member states will deal with irregular migration and asylum seekers.
Under the new rules, foreigners will be screened at EU borders for up to seven days before they are admitted, with those deemed to pose a ‘security threat’ or from countries listed as ‘safe’ getting a faster process. One of the pillars of the new pact is to speed up voluntary and forced returns of rejected asylum seekers by automatically issuing return orders when an application is rejected.
Human rights advocates have criticized the new rules, arguing they undermine the right to seek asylum by rushing assessments. They say accelerated procedures introduce racial profiling while denying international protection to applicants with legitimate claims, and they warn of an expected spike in prolonged detentions at EU borders.
Prayer, Solidarity, and the Call for Dignity
Salvatore Sortino, the IOM’s head of mission for Italy and Malta, said there had been a decrease in arrivals in the central Mediterranean route this year. But he said the number of dead had increased proportionally, ‘in the sense that the diminishing numbers of arrivals hasn’t resulted in a lower number of deaths at sea.’
‘That speaks about the vulnerability that remains,’ he said. ‘So the visit of the pope here, where all this happens, I think is a very important reminder of that element.’
Tareke Brhane, a migrant from Eritrea and president of the October 3rd Committee, a nonprofit founded by relatives of victims of a 2013 shipwreck in Lampedusa that left 368 people dead, said Pope Leo XIV’s visit sent a ‘strong message’ of solidarity. ‘It is a strong sign for our battle with Italy and with Europe in order to register the deaths, because as of today we still do not have a registry (of those deceased),’ he told The Associated Press.
Leo’s visit both honors the dead and ‘gives a message to the relatives, so many of them still waiting and suffering,’ he said.
The pope’s visit follows in the footsteps of Pope Francis, who made the plight of migrants and refugees a priority of his pontificate. For the Catholic Church, welcoming and accompanying people fleeing hardship is part of the Gospel-mandated call to ‘welcome the stranger.’
Pope Francis traveled to Lampedusa in July 2013, on his first trip outside Rome after his election. He tossed a wreath into the sea in memory of migrants who had died and denounced the ‘globalization of indifference’ that the world shows migrants.
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Salvatore Sortino, the IOM’s head of mission for Italy and Malta, said there had been a decrease in arrivals in the central Mediterranean route this year. But he said the number of dead had increased proportionally, ‘in the sense that the diminishing numbers of arrivals hasn’t resulted in a lower number of deaths at sea.’
‘That speaks about the vulnerability that remains,’ he said. ‘So the visit of the pope here, where all this happens, I think is a very important reminder of that element.’
The International Rescue Committee estimates that there are 118 million people worldwide who have been forcibly displaced this year alone. The pope’s visit comes just two weeks after the European Union began implementing a new set of rules governing how each of its 27 member states will deal with irregular migration and asylum seekers.
Under the new rules, foreigners will be screened at EU borders for up to seven days before they are admitted, with those deemed to pose a ‘security threat’ or from countries listed as ‘safe’ getting a faster process. One of the pillars of the new pact is to speed up voluntary and forced returns of rejected asylum seekers by automatically issuing return orders when an application is rejected.
Human rights advocates have criticized the new rules, arguing they undermine the right to seek asylum by rushing assessments. They say accelerated procedures introduce racial profiling while denying international protection to applicants with legitimate claims, and they warn of an expected spike in prolonged detentions at EU borders.
