In addition to his letter, Leo gave a speech on Saturday in Lampedusa in which he made a similar appeal to European leaders to address immigration “in a comprehensive manner, integrating immediate relief efforts into a long-term strategic plan capable of receiving, protecting, supporting and integrating migrants.”
The Vatican announced in February that Leo would spend the Fourth of July on the island, Italy’s southernmost port, where thousands of migrants each year stop on their perilous and often deadly expedition across the Mediterranean and north to European countries.
Many migrants gathered on Saturday to hear the pontiff, who also called on European leaders to improve conditions in the countries immigrants come from to reduce migration.
Leo’s Saturday pleas to European and American leaders are not unprecedented.
In May of last year, Leo said the dignity of migrants must be respected, speaking to world diplomats and invoking his own immigrant background. “My own story is that of a citizen, the descendant of immigrants, who in turn chose to emigrate,” he said before ambassadors at the Vatican.
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