MAZUR Catholic Church (England and Wales)
After fulfilling the wish of his predecessor Francis, Leo XIV, in Italy, explained how sending immigrants away and “washing one’s hands of the problem does not seem like the most Christian response”.
Pope Leo XIV stated that the policy proposed by several German and Italian far-right parties, including the new National Future group, is not a concept that is in accordance with Christian principles.
“We often do not recognize the reasons why these people had to leave their countries,” the pontiff told journalists on Tuesday, in front of the papal residence in Castel Gandalf, regarding remigration.
“There are many reasons: violence, war, conflicts. And simply saying: Let’s send them away so we can wash our hands of the problem doesn’t seem like the most Christian response to me,” he said, stressing that one must “respect people, analyze cases and, above all, treat people as people.”
Remigration and Reconquista under discussion in the Italian parliament
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Rome in rival demonstrations for and against immigration, after a popular far-right initiative proposing measures against migrants gathered enough support to be taken to parliament.
The petition, entitled “Remigration and Reconquista”, exceeded the 50 thousand signatures required to force parliamentary discussion, bringing the hitherto marginal concept of “remigration” into the political debate. No date has yet been set for voting.
The proposal, promoted by radical right groups, envisages measures aimed at foreigners, including coercive returns, incentives to leave Italy and broader policies that critics consider could also affect legal residents.
“We are all migrants”
Already in SpainLast week, the Pope said that all people are migrants in some way and called on everyone to contribute to making “the crossing” of immigration a “more human place”.
“We are all, in some way, migrants, we are all pilgrims on the way to our heavenly homeland. Let us help each other to make this crossing a more humane place for everyone, contributing what is within our reach”, said Leo XIV.
The Pope was speaking at a meeting with immigrants in Tenerife, in the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands, which deals daily with the arrival of people aboard precarious vessels known as ‘pateras’ or ‘cayucos’, from the African coasts.
Leo XIV thanked the Government of Spain, the local authorities and various institutions, as well as “so many men and women of good will” for making “concrete humanitarian aid possible, which gives back hope and dignifies so many people” in the Canaries, as happens in the “As Raízes” center that he visited today, a former military barracks transformed in 2021 into a reception center for migrants arriving in the archipelago in ‘pateras’.
According to data released today by a person responsible for the center, “As Raízes” has already passed through “As Raízes”, where 600 people work, more than 70 thousand migrants since 2021, “each with a story, for a first dignified welcome”.
During the visit, the Pope heard several testimonies from migrants, who thanked the Catholic Church, the local community, organizations and “all supportive people” for their welcome and “an outstretched hand” upon arrival in the Canary Islands. “May borders not become walls of indifference”, asked one of the immigrants who addressed the Pope today.
Leo XIV fulfilled a promise made by his predecessor, Francisco, who expressed his desire to go to the Canary Islands to highlight the problem of immigration and, specifically, the ‘pateras’.
