Photo © Vatican Media

(ANS – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) – Pope Leo XIV concluded his six-day visit to Spain with a stop in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. After visits to Madrid, which focused primarily on institutional matters, and Barcelona, where he honored the centennial of the death of the “Architect of God,” Antoni Gaudí, the Holy Father specifically included the Canary Islands in his itinerary as a sign of the Church’s closeness to the most vulnerable and to those who serve them.

On the penultimate day of the trip, Thursday, June 11, the Pope traveled to Las Palmas and visited the port of Arguineguín—a place that has become a symbol of both the tragedy of migration and the generosity of welcome. There, he met with organizations actively assisting migrants and refugees. Through both words and gestures, he expressed solidarity with those in need while offering a thoughtful reflection on migration and the shared responsibility of addressing it wisely.

“Dear migrants, before saying anything else to you, I want to bow before your dignity. You are not merely numbers or case files. You are people who have left behind families and homes. You have dreams that no one has the right to despise.”

During the visit, the Pope also cast a wreath into the sea in memory of the thousands who have died while attempting the perilous journey along the Atlantic migration route. He added:

“Every boat that arrives brings with it a question: What kind of world have we built if so many brothers and sisters must risk death in order to seek life?”

The Pope’s message addressed several audiences. After listening to the testimony of a young woman who was forced to leave her country because of a lack of opportunity, he remarked:

“To the many women who are victims of trafficking and exploitation: If others have put a price on your body, know that God has never ceased to recognize your inestimable worth.”

While reaffirming the dignity of migrants, he also urged caution:

“Do not entrust your lives to those who profit from them. Do not believe those who promise easy paradises in exchange for your body, your money, your silence, or your freedom. Those false promises are siren songs; they are industries of death.”

The Holy Father then addressed the broader Church:

“Welcoming migrants cannot be a secondary matter left to a few volunteers. We kneel before the altar to adore Christ present in the Eucharist, from whom we receive the strength and motivation to live charity. Therefore, we cannot then ‘pass by’ the small boats and rafts. Every act of service and every commitment springs from prayer and ultimately leads back to it.”

He also directed his remarks to civil authorities, lawmakers, governments, international organizations, and all people of goodwill, addressing the root causes of migration:

“Human dignity requires legal and safe pathways, rescue and assistance, genuine cooperation against traffickers, effective protection for victims, serious processes of reception and integration, and policies that enable every person to live with dignity in his or her own homeland. While there is a right to seek refuge when life is threatened, there is also the right not to be forced to migrate—the right to remain at home without hunger, war, persecution, violence, environmental devastation, corruption, or the destruction of children’s futures through armed conflict. We cannot grow accustomed to counting the dead. Human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border.”

Through these remarks, Pope Leo XIV affirmed the inviolable dignity of migrants, warned against the dangers posed by human traffickers, challenged societies that have become indifferent to the deaths of migrants, and reaffirmed the right of people to remain in their own countries under conditions of peace, security, and opportunity.

A Call to Genuine Integration

The Pope returned to the issue of migration the following day, Friday, June 12, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, during the final half-day of his apostolic visit. In Tenerife, he symbolically completed the journey that had begun in Las Palmas. While the previous day focused on those involved in welcoming migrants, this gathering centered on those working to promote integration.

Once again, the Holy Father offered a broad and inclusive vision, emphasizing the responsibility shared by all in fostering authentic integration.

He began by clarifying the foundation of the discussion:

“We are speaking first and foremost about people created in the image and likeness of God, not merely legal categories or problems to be managed. After difficult journeys and, at times, multiple attempts, they seek someone who will tell them—not only with words but through actions—that their lives are not wasted, their suffering is not invisible, and their dignity has not been washed away by the waters they have crossed.”

The Pope then delivered a forceful condemnation of those who exploit migrants:

“I wish to send a clear message to those who take advantage of people’s desperation, who organize routes of death, traffic in human beings, withhold documents, exploit workers, threaten women, deceive families, and turn the suffering of others into a business: Stop. Repent (cf. Mk 1:15). The tears and blood of these brothers and sisters cry out to God, and their suffering reaches Him (cf. Gen 4:10; Ex 3:7–9). The money extracted from the vulnerability of the poor will bring neither peace, honor, nor a future (cf. Jer 22:13; Job 5:1–6).

For every life lost, every family deceived, every body exploited, every woman threatened, and every worker abused, you will answer before divine justice (cf. 2 Cor 5:10). Break those chains and free those you hold in bondage (cf. Is 58:6). Return what has been taken and make restitution as far as possible.

Repent while there is still time. God’s mercy can reach even the most hardened sinner, but it enters only through the narrow gate of truth, justice, and conversion (cf. Ez 33:11).”

Finally, the Pope encouraged Catholics involved in migrant ministry to ensure that integration remains rooted in the Gospel:

“Integration must not be reduced to a social service, however necessary that service may be. Those who come to our parishes need food, shelter, language assistance, employment, and protection. They must also find a community capable of introducing them to Jesus Christ through the witness of life and word, while always respecting the conscience and freedom of each person. Evangelization means sharing, with respect and humility, the treasure that sustains our action and our hope. A Church that welcomes is also a Church that proclaims, offering Christ without imposing Him and, at the same time, receiving the Gospel from the hands of the poor.”

The Pope concluded with a renewed appeal to solidarity and fraternity:

“Dear brothers and sisters, we are all, in some way, migrants; we are all pilgrims journeying toward our heavenly homeland. Let us help one another make this journey more humane for everyone, offering whatever each of us is able to give.”