Pope Leo marks July 4 by praying for migrants | News World

Pope Leo XIV, who has sparred with the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown, spent the Fourth of July honouring migrants who’ve died trying to succeed in Europe to search out freedom.

As america 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 primary port of entry into Europe for a whole bunch of hundreds of migrants who cross by boat.

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

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

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

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

He also reminded america 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 a part of the history of this country from its very starting.’

‘To receive them with compassion and generosity is just not only an act of charity, but in addition a recognition of the dignity that belongs to each human person,’ Leo wrote.

The tiny island that’s Ground Zero for migration

In recent times, Lampedusa has turn into Ground Zero of Europe’s migration debate because 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’ve shown in welcoming migrants and urged Europe to rise to the challenge of the moment and assume its responsibility.

‘Indeed, before any mental consideration or ideological conviction, the encounter with those that lie before us, stripped of every thing, calls us to be near 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 handle 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 nobody is forced to migrate.

The variety of migrants arriving in Italy up to now this 12 months is significantly lower than lately, with the Interior Ministry reporting 14,464 arrivals as of Friday compared with 30,598 in the identical period last 12 months and 26,202 in 2024.

At the identical time, the International Organisation of Migration has recorded greater than 35,000 missing migrants within the Mediterranean since 2014, though the actual variety of dead is believed to be far higher.

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

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