Pope Leo XIV spent July 4 in the epicentre of Europe’s migration debate to honour the tens of thousands of people who have died trying to reach Europe. Source: SBS News.
While the United States marked the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with rallies, parties and fireworks, the US-born Pope travelled to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to pray at a migrant cemetery and celebrate a solemn Mass for the island’s residents and newest arrivals.
Later that day, he got into the July 4 spirit with a visit to the residence of the US ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, a rarity for popes, who usually don’t call on ambassadors.
The US embassy said Mr Burch gave Pope Leo a commemorative baseball, an apple pie and a US World Cup jersey.
Pope Leo confirmed he was rooting for the US team, the embassy wrote on X, adding that the two discussed “American efforts to pursue peace, religious freedom and the need for moral clarity and courage around the world”.
A treeless strip of rock nine kilometres long, Lampedusa is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland and is the main port of entry into Europe for hundreds of thousands of migrants who crossed by boat from Libya or Tunisia, often smuggled by human traffickers.
Pope Leo met with some migrants at the port and then walked alone onto the jagged jetty rocks, the wind whipping his cassock and blowing his zucchetto skullcap off as he looked out to the sea.
He then blessed a plaque, dedicating the dock to Pope Francis, who visited in 2013, before celebrating Mass on land.
“This is a place where gestures speak louder than words,” Pope Leo said. “But for gestures to be human, they need a heart.”
In making the visit on this particular day, Pope Leo was sending a powerfully symbolic message to the United States and Europe of the Christian obligation to uphold the dignity of every human being, migrants and the most vulnerable especially, while reminding the United States that it was founded by immigrants.
In a letter sent to Americans on the July 4 anniversary, Pope Leo insisted that protecting the unborn and all human life also means “welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants, whose hopes, sacrifices and contribution have formed part of the history of this country from its very beginning”.
FULL STORY
On fourth of July, an American pope sends a symbolic letter to the US about immigrants (AP via SBS News)
RELATED COVERAGE
In Lampedusa on July 4, Pope Leo urges Christians to provide safe harbour to migrants (OSV News)
