LAS PALMAS, Spain (RNS) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV delivered a heartfelt speech addressing migrants on Thursday (June 11), 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 \u2014 especially in Europe \u2014 underlining their duty to promote and protect migrants.<\/p>\n
Leo said those who exploit migrants are \u201cmonsters\u201d \u2014 as are people who are indifferent to their suffering. He called for a \u201cconversion,\u201d allowing people to see migrants beyond mere statistics.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly 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,\u201d he said. \u201cHuman dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border.\u201d<\/p>\n
He made his remarks at the port of Arguinegu\u00edn, 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Arguinegu\u00edn 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.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nA volunteer meets Pope Leo XIV during a meeting with organizations working with migrants in Arguinegu\u00edn at the Canary Islands, Spain, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Today, Arguinegu\u00edn wants to rebrand itself as a \u201cport of hope\u201d as volunteers and Catholic charities work to help the migrants and refugees, who arrive in the islands aboard makeshift boats called \u201ccayucos\u201d and \u201cpateras.\u201d<\/p>\n Tito Villarmea, captain of the salvage boat Guardamar Urania, has reportedly saved more than 20,000 people as he patrols the ocean near the islands. Addressing the pope at the pier, he recalled saving a woman who cried desperately over the body of her teenage daughter, who had died on the journey.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish we didn\u2019t have to save anyone again,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s work as a society to reduce this tragedy and build a more just world.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2024, the Canaries received a record 46,843 migrants. Arrivals have declined in recent years after Spain and the European Union struck deals with Mauritania, Senegal and Morocco to intercept departures and increase patrols. The crossing has also grown proportionally deadlier, with a greater number of those attempting the journey perishing; last year, nearly 3,090 people died trying to reach Spain, through the Canary Islands or the Balearic route, and 1,300 have already died in the first six months of 2026, according to the Spanish nongovernmental organization Caminando Fronteras<\/a>.<\/p>\n Just over 3,000 migrants have arrived to the islands this year, most from Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Gambia and other regions of sub-Saharian Africa. Other immigrants arrive via air from Latin America, especially Venezuela and Cuba.<\/p>\n In his address, Leo called migrant deaths and exploitation a tragedy and said they \u201cmust serve as an appeal to the conscience of the nations of origin,\u201d which have an obligation to provide the conditions for human flourishing. He also urged transit nations to protect the vulnerable from criminal networks and said the international community should promote cooperation.<\/p>\n The pope made an \u201cappeal to the conscience of Europe, which cannot claim to uphold human dignity while growing accustomed to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic becoming unmarked graves.\u201d<\/p>\n The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, a new legal framework for how European countries manage immigration, takes effect Friday. Human-rights organizations<\/a> warn that the pact, a set of 10 pieces of legislation adopted in 2024, opens the door for large deportation efforts to migrant camps in Africa. \u201cWe are worried because European politics is restrictive, it\u2019s not aimed at building bridges but at building walls,\u201d said the Rev. Fernando Redondo, who oversees the migration office of the Spanish bishops\u2019 conference.<\/p>\n Critics have likened the policy to U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s recent limitation on green card applications, which must now be filed from outside the U.S.<\/p>\n
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