Pope Leo XIV gives historic speech on migration in the Canary Islands, Spain
The Pope criticized Europe because "you cannot talk about dignity and let the seas be cemeteries"
Precisely, the Arguineguín dock, in Gran Canaria, was known in 2020 as the “port of shame”, since more than 2,300 immigrants were crowded together for several days. For this reason, the migration drama “must become an examination of conscience,” said the Pontiff.
Call for attention to the authorities
The Pope hopes, according to his very harsh speech, that the voice of the dramatic immigration testimonies that he heard in Arguineguín will reach “those who have decisive responsibilities in their hands” on this issue. "Every boat that arrives not only brings migrants; it brings with it a question: what world have we built, if so many brothers have to risk death to search for life?" he stressed.
For this reason, he stated that Europe “cannot proclaim human dignity and get used to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic being cemeteries without tombstones.” The indignation of Leo
Reproaches to the international community
He also urged the countries of origin of the immigrants to create “conditions of peace, justice and development,” and asked those in transit to “protect and not leave the weak in the hands of criminal networks.” And he demanded “effective and persevering cooperation” from the entire international community.
“Although there is a right to seek refuge when life is threatened, there is also the right not to have to migrate,” he summarized, “: the right to remain in one's home without hunger, without war, without persecution, without violence, without the earth becoming uninhabitable, without corruption stealing the bread of the poor, without weapons destroying the future of children.”
“It is not enough to manage arrivals, distribute figures, reinforce borders or mourn deaths when they have already occurred,” Leo XIV reproached the entire international community.
The voice of the Church
In this drama, the pontiff assured, “the Church cannot remain silent in the face of those who are abandoned” at sea.
And he asked himself “if we have known how to recognize Christ in those who disembark marked by fear, hunger and violence, after the desert, the night and the sea.” “The reception of migrants cannot be something secondary or delegated only to some volunteers.” “We cannot pass by the cayucos and the boats,” he stressed. ms (efe/afp)