In a sermon delivered on Saturday in Lampedusa, Italy, Pope Leon XIV urged Europe to take stronger actions to protect migrants, according to reports from AFP. The pontiff followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, Francis, who made his first trip outside the Vatican to the same 20-square-kilometer island between Tunisia and Malta in 2013, a place that has become a symbol of the tragedies faced by migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea.
The pope’s half-day visit comes just weeks after the European Union adopted new migration measures, allowing for increased detention of immigrants and the establishment of holding centers at borders.
Pope Leon emphasized that “Europe is capable of addressing the crisis systematically by incorporating immediate aid into a long-term strategic plan that can receive, protect, promote, and integrate migrants, while also taking action for development to ensure no one is forced to emigrate.”
He criticized the “lack of concern for the common good and the corruption in countries of origin, a global economic system that produces poverty and exclusion, the fear that fuels prejudice and disdain, and the criminal calculations of those profiting from the misfortunes of others.”
Before his sermon, Leon placed a wreath at the cemetery of unidentified migrants and visited the Gate of Europe, a monument dedicated to victims, where he solemnly reflected alone on a rock by the sea, his vestments fluttering in the wind.
The remainder of his visit included the blessing of a commemorative plaque dedicated to Pope Francis at the quay where migrants rescued from the sea by the coast guard, humanitarian vessels, or local fishermen disembark, as well as an open-air mass.
Saturday also marks Independence Day in the United States, the birthplace of Pope Leon, born Robert Francis Prevost. He extended heartfelt congratulations to all Americans on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
