Pope Leo, on July 4 visit to Lampedusa, calls on Americans to welcome migrants
By Joshua McElwee
LAMPEDUSA, Italy, July 4 (Reuters) – Pope Leo used the Fourth of July to urge Americans to embrace immigrants as a core expression of national values, dispatching a letter from the remote Italian island of Lampedusa as he spotlighted the human toll of Mediterranean migration.
The pontiff, who drew sharp criticism from former President Donald Trump last year after denouncing U.S. immigration enforcement as inhumane, called on the world to become “more human” and to step up aid for those fleeing war and poverty. His visit to Lampedusa – a key landing point for migrants crossing from North Africa – came as arrivals in Italy have topped 7,000 so far this year.
In his message to the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of its independence, Leo framed the Catholic duty to protect life as encompassing “welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants.” He told Americans that receiving migrants “with compassion and generosity is not only an act of charity, but also a recognition of the dignity that belongs to every human person.”
Since his election in May 2025, the Argentine-born pope has made migrant advocacy a defining theme of his papacy. Last month he warned that history would judge harshly leaders who mistreat people on the move.
The Lampedusa trip echoed a symbolic visit by Pope Francis in 2013 – his first outside Rome after becoming pope – and underscored how the Italian church continues to press European leaders for more coordinated action.
Leo told a crowd that included newly arrived migrants, Italian coast guard rescuers and aid workers that he had come “to accompany you, support you and encourage you.” He called on European governments to tackle migration “in a comprehensive manner, integrating immediate relief efforts into a long-term strategic plan capable of receiving, protecting, supporting and integrating migrants.”
The pope also urged leaders to improve conditions in migrants’ home countries, so fewer people feel compelled to make the dangerous journey.
Kandeh Abdourahman, who arrived in Lampedusa in 2015 after crossing five African countries, the Sahara and the Mediterranean, said the pope’s visit “speaks to every one of us. It’s a reminder that our stories are seen, that welcome is not just a word but an act of humanity.” Now a cultural mediator with the International Rescue Committee, he spoke to Reuters at the dockside.
So far this year, 14,464 migrants have reached Italy by sea, according to U.N. refugee agency data, with more than half landing on Lampedusa – a figure that far exceeds the island’s resident population of about 6,000. The U.N. migration agency reports that over 1,400 people have died or gone missing this year while attempting the Central Mediterranean crossing, including 28 children.
The visit carried significant political timing. Vatican officials said Leo deliberately chose July 4 to underscore his message. In a major address to the United States the day before, he praised the country’s tradition of welcoming immigrants and urged Americans to uphold the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.
Arriving shortly before 9 a.m. local time Saturday, Leo laid flowers at a local cemetery on the graves of migrants who had died attempting the crossing. He also walked through the “Door of Europe,” an art installation on Italy’s southernmost beach dedicated to migrants, stepping toward the Mediterranean under strong winds.
Tareke Brhane, an Eritrean-born migrant rights advocate and president of the October 3rd Committee – an Italian nonprofit founded after a 2013 shipwreck that killed 368 people off Lampedusa – said he was overcome with emotion after briefly greeting the pope. “I got chills,” he said. He expressed hope that the pope’s presence would push European leaders to create a registry identifying migrants lost at sea.
Anna Leer, an official with the U.N. refugee agency, said the pope’s visit “sends a clear message at a time when the global political debate on migration is often framed around borders and deterrence rather than protection and shared responsibility. Every act of witness to the humanity of those who flee violence, persecution and conflict carries moral and political weight.”
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; additional reporting by Danilo Arnone; editing by Mark Potter)