Says it should do so while also assisting developing countries so that no one is forced to emigrate
\n Vatican City
\nPope Leo XIV on Saturday pressed Europe to do more to protect and integrate migrants as he visited Italy\u2019s Lampedusa island, a major port of call for those risking the perilous crossing from Africa. His trip to the migration frontline was a stark message to both EU and US leaders in a period of both growing intolerance and indifference.
\nThe Catholic Church\u2019s first US pope, who has clashed with President Donald Trump\u2019s administration over its treatment of migrants, chose to mark July 4, the United States\u2019 250th anniversary of independence, at a migration hotspot.
\nLeo\u2019s visit also comes just two weeks after the European Union\u2019s approval of new migrant rules allowing much broader detention powers and the creation of deportation centres outside the bloc.
\n\u201cFrom this far-flung corner of Europe on the Mediterranean Sea, one can more clearly perceive the momentous challenge that the phenomenon of migration poses to European societies,\u201d Leo told crowds of faithful.
\nYet \u201cEurope is capable of addressing the crisis \u2014 in this region \u2014 in a comprehensive manner, integrating immediate relief efforts into a long-term strategic plan capable of receiving, protecting, supporting and integrating migrants,\u201d he said. It should do so \u201cwhile at the same time assisting developing countries so that no one is forced to emigrate\u201d, he added.
\nThe 70-year-old began his visit by praying at the unmarked graves of shipwreck victims. He then stood alone on the island\u2019s rocky shoreline, buffeted by the wind as he looked out to sea, where countless migrant boats have been lost to the waves on the frontier between Africa and Europe.
\nLeo spoke to a migrant family, before taking the children by the hand and standing along with their pregnant mother at the \u201cDoor of Europe\u201d, a monument dedicated to people who risk everything in search of a better life.
\nLampedusa sits 90 miles (145 kilometres) off the coast of Tunisia and has cared for thousands of migrants \u2014 and taken in their dead.
\nThe pope thanked the fishing and tourism community of 6,000 \u201cfor the solidarity that so many of you have shown\u201d.
\nHe also paid homage to those who have died during the crossing, saying \u201cwe feel their presence, which challenges us no less than that of those who have landed in need of attention and aid\u201d.
\nIn 2013, more than 360 people died in the island\u2019s worst shipwreck, and dozens more have drowned in the years since.
\nThe pope also visited the pier where people rescued at sea are brought to safety, and blessed a plaque dedicated to Pope Francis \u2014 who chose Lampedusa for his very first trip following his election in 2013.
\nLeo\u2019s presence \u201csends 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\u201d, Filippo Ungaro, spokesman for the UN\u2019s refugee agency, UNHCR, told AFP.
\nThe pope has previously spoken out against measures to clamp down on undocumented migration and called the US administration\u2019s treatment of immigrants \u201cinhuman\u201d.
\nIn a speech on Friday to mark America\u2019s 250th birthday, Leo called for \u201cmoderation\u201d in US public discourse and spoke of how \u201csuccessive waves of immigrants\u201d had shaped the future of the country.
\nThe central Mediterranean crossing from North Africa is the deadliest migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration.
\nAround 1,330 people died or went missing while attempting it last year, the IOM says.
\nMore than 14,000 people landed in Italy during the first six months of the year, most of whom set off from Libya, according to UNHCR.
\nNearly 60 percent of them arrived in Lampedusa, it said.
\nThe numbers are far from the peaks reached in 2011, when tens of thousands arrived in months as maritime border controls disintegrated during the Arab Spring revolts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Says it should do so while also assisting developing countries so that no one is forced to emigrate Vatican City Pope Leo XIV on Saturday pressed Europe to do more to protect and integrate migrants as he visited Italy\u2019s Lampedusa island, a major port of call for those risking the perilous crossing from Africa. His […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n