Pope marks July 4 by praying in Lampedusa for migrants who died seeking freedom and prosperity
The pope called on European leaders to provide safe, legal migration paths and long-term support as deaths in the Mediterranean remain high.
- Pope Leo XIV visited Lampedusa, Italy, on Saturday to deliver a stark message to United States and European Union leaders on the migration frontline during America's 250th anniversary of independence.
- The visit follows Leo's previous criticism of President Donald Trump's administration as "inhuman" regarding migrant treatment, and comes two weeks after the European Union approved stricter detention powers.
- Lampedusa sits 145km off the coast of Tunisia and is known for compassion, yet around 1,330 people died or went missing attempting the Central Mediterranean crossing last year, per the International Organization for Migration.
- Filippo Ungaro, UNHCR spokesman, said Leo's presence "sends a clear message at a time when the global political debate on migration is often framed around borders and deterrence rather than protection and shared responsibility."
- On Friday, Leo called for "moderation" in United States public discourse, emphasizing that "successive waves of immigrants" have historically shaped the nation's future during his speech marking America's 250th anniversary.
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Vance had given the Pope an invitation from the White House, but Leo preferred to meet migrants in Sicily – and thus distanced himself from Trump.
Pope Leo spends July 4th at migrant cemetery in Italy, meets with U.S. ambassador
After the pope's visit to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, the U.S. Embassy said the ambassador to the Holy See gave Leo a commemorative baseball, an apple pie and a U.S. World Cup jersey.
Pope visits U.S. ambassador on July 4 after prayers at Lampedusa cemetery for migrant victims
LAMPEDUSA, Sicily — Pope Leo XIV, who has sparred with the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown, spent the Fourth of July on Saturday in the epicenter of Europe’s migration debate to honor the tens of thousands of people who…
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff in history, celebrated this Saturday the national feast of the United States at the residence of the ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the American country.
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