Pope Leo marks July 4 by praying for migrants

Pope Leo XIV, who has sparred with the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown, spent the Fourth of July honouring migrants who have died trying to reach Europe to find freedom.

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with rallies, parties and fireworks, history’s first U.S.-born pope travelled to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.

While there, he prays at a migrant cemetery and celebrated a solemn Mass for the island’s residents and newest arrivals.

A treeless strip of rock 5.6 miles long, Lampedusa is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland and is the main port of entry into Europe for hundreds of thousands of migrants who cross by boat.

Leo met with some migrants at the port and then walked alone onto the jagged jetty rocks, the wind whipping his cassock and blowing his zucchetto skullcap off as he looked out to the sea.

He then blessed a plaque dedicating the dock to Pope Francis, who visited in 2013, before celebrating Mass on land.

‘This is a place where gestures speak louder than words,’ Leo said. ‘But for gestures to be human, they need a heart.’

Leo sent a powerful message to the US and Europe of the Christian obligation to uphold the dignity of every human being, migrants and the most vulnerable.

He also reminded the United States that it was founded by immigrants.

In a letter sent to Americans, Leo insisted that protecting the unborn and all human life also means ‘welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants, whose hopes, sacrifices and contributions have formed part of the history of this country from its very beginning.’

‘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,’ Leo wrote.

The tiny island that’s Ground Zero for migration

In recent years, Lampedusa has become Ground Zero of Europe’s migration debate as the continent struggles to police its borders while honouring its legal obligations to welcome refugees fleeing conflict, climate change and poverty.

In his homily, Leo thanked the residents of Lampedusa for the ‘miracle of compassion’ they have shown in welcoming migrants and urged Europe to rise to the challenge of the moment and assume its responsibility.

‘Indeed, before any intellectual consideration or ideological conviction, the encounter with those who lie before us, stripped of everything, calls us to be close to them,’ Leo said, wearing vestments decorated with images of waves.

Preaching from ‘this far-flung corner of Europe on the Mediterranean Sea,’ Leo urged European leaders to address the migration phenomenon in a comprehensive way.

He suggested integrating immediate relief with long-term strategies to receive, protect, support and integrate migrants while developing their home countries so no one is forced to migrate.

The number of migrants arriving in Italy so far this year is significantly lower than in recent years, with the Interior Ministry reporting 14,464 arrivals as of Friday compared with 30,598 in the same period last year and 26,202 in 2024.

At the same time, the International Organisation 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.

Leo has strongly emphasised the need to uphold the dignity of migrants, especially amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation program in his native Chicago.

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