- Pope Leo XIV visited the reception center Las Raíces in Tenerife.
- He expressed solidarity with migrants and emphasized the need for their integration.
- Leo XIV follows Francis, who made refugees a priority of the pontificate.
- He stressed the duty of migrants to learn the country’s language, obey the laws and get to know its customs.
Pope Leo XIV. met migrants and local volunteers at the Las Raíces reception center on the island of Tenerife on Friday, the last day of his visit to Spain. He expressed solidarity with the migrants and emphasized that their integration into society is important. TASR writes about it according to AFP.
As part of Spain, the Canary Islands are an important entry point to Europe for migrants brought there by smugglers fleeing conflict and poverty. Leo XIV. by visiting this archipelago, he fulfilled the wish of his predecessor František, who died before he could make this planned trip. Pope Francis has set the fate of refugees as the theme of his pontificate. Leo XIV. continues to do so.
“In a sense we are all migrants, for we are all pilgrims on our way to our heavenly homeland,” said the Pope in his address to hundreds of migrants in the center of Las Raíces. “Let’s help make this journey more humane for everyone by contributing in whatever way we can,” stated.
According to the International Organization for Migration, nearly 1,200 people were killed or missing traveling from Africa to the Canary Islands last year, making the route one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. Europe, which is tightening its migration policy, according to the Pope, “cannot claim to defend human dignity when it gets used to the fact that the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean are turning into unmarked graves.”
However, he emphasized that migration is a “reciprocal path” and he urged migrants to learn the host country’s language, “obey its laws” and “get to know its customs.” On Friday, the Pope will end his week-long visit to Spain in the harbor of the Canary capital of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where he will celebrate Mass in the open air.
