Pope Leo XIV has warned Europe not to grow accustomed to the deaths of migrants on sea routes, calling for legal and safe pathways for migration during a visit to the port of Arguineguín on Gran Canaria on Thursday.
The head of around 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide said the continent could not invoke human dignity while at the same time allowing itself to become accustomed to "the Mediterranean and the Atlantic becoming unmarked graves."
Leo also called for rescue and assistance for people in distress and genuine cooperation to combat the people traffickers.
"It is not enough to manage arrivals, distribute statistics, reinforce borders or lament deaths after they have occurred," he said in an official English translation of his address.
The Canary Islands, a popular European holiday destination, have for many years been a hotspot for migration from Africa across the Atlantic to Europe. The phenomenon particularly shaped the islands between 2020 and 2024.
Although the number of migrants arriving by boat fell sharply last year, almost 50,000 people arrived irregularly on the Canary Islands within a single year at the height of the crisis in 2024.
'Port of Shame' near the holiday resort of Maspalomas
The port of Arguineguín on Gran Canaria, also known as the "Port of Shame," became a symbol of the humanitarian emergency. In August 2020, almost 3,000 people were at times stranded there in precarious conditions, even though the area was designed for around 500 people. They slept in the open air, and sanitary conditions were appalling.
At that port in the south of Gran Canaria, just half an hour's drive from the holiday resort of Maspalomas, Leo met recently arrived migrants as well as representatives of the Church and humanitarian organizations who care for them and support their integration into Spanish society.
A woman from Nigeria who had been a victim of human trafficking had her story read out by another woman, who recited the harrowing details in tears.
Pope: Migrants are not numbers or files
Addressing the migrants directly, Leo said: "You are not just numbers or files. You are people who have left behind families and homes. You have dreams that no one has the right to despise."
He sharply condemned people smugglers. “Even today, monsters lurk in these seas,” he warned, referring to “mafias that profit from despair, traffickers who enslave women and children, and those whose indifference allows the poor to be swallowed up by exploitation or forgetfulness.”
He insisted “human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border.”
He called on the international community to share responsibility on the issue.
Leo said he hoped the voices of migrants would reach those with authority in this matter, including parliaments, governments and international organizations.
Every boat that arrives, Leo said, brings not only migrants but also a central question for all: "What kind of world have we built, if so many brothers and sisters must risk death to seek life?"
To commemorate the thousands who have died on the dangerous Atlantic route, Leo laid a floral tribute on the water in the port of Arguineguín and blessed a cross made from pieces of wood from migrants' boats.
Friday on Tenerife
The visit to Gran Canaria is part of the final leg of the Pope's multi-day trip to Spain.
Earlier in the week, he visited Madrid and Barcelona. On Friday, he flies from Gran Canaria to the neighbouring island of Tenerife, where he also plans to meet migrants at the Las Raíces reception centre.
