Pope Leo defends migrants at 'dock of shame' in Spain

Pope Leo XIV blesses a child during a meeting with migrants at the "Las Raices" center, in San Cristobal de la Laguna in Spain. Alessandra Tarantino/AP hide caption

LAS PALMAS, Spain (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV delivered a heartfelt speech addressing migrants on Thursday, reminding them of their worth and dignity even as they suffer at the hands of traffickers and mafias. He also spoke directly to the church and states — especially in Europe — underlining their duty to promote and protect migrants.

Leo said those who exploit migrants are "monsters" — as are people who are indifferent to their suffering. He called for a "conversion," allowing people to see migrants beyond mere statistics.

"Only then can we understand that that little girl could be our daughter, and that those faces could be part of our family. Then, our conscience is left with no excuses," he said. "Human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border."

Leo made his remarks at the port of Arguineguín, in Las Palmas, in Gran Canary Island, where he listened to the stories of migrants and people who help them. Leo is visiting the Canary Islands for the last leg of his weeklong visit to Spain.

While the Canaries, eight islands roughly 60 miles from the African coast, may be considered a vacation spot for wealthy Europeans, the reality on the ground tells a deadlier tale, where tens of thousands of migrants arrive each year, stranded on its rocky shores and thousands more die in its surrounding waters.

Arguineguín became known as the port of shame in 2020, when more than 3,000 migrants crammed into a space meant for 500. Photos of exhausted migrants, who had traveled the deadly Atlantic route from West Africa, sleeping on concrete, exposed an inability to manage the crisis.

Today, Arguineguín wants to rebrand itself as a "port of hope" as volunteers and Catholic charities work to help the migrants and refugees, who arrive in the islands aboard makeshift boats called "cayucos" and "pateras."