US-born Pope Leo marks July 4 with appeal for compassion toward migrants

Pope Leo XIV used a Fourth of July visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa to highlight migration issues, urging the West to show greater compassion toward people fleeing war, poverty and instability.

The U.S.-born pontiff urged Europe to combine emergency assistance with a longer-term strategy for receiving and integrating migrants, while also addressing the conflicts, poverty and instability that push people to leave their home countries.

“Those who have lost their lives in this sea are victims both of decisions that were made and of decisions that were not made,” Leo said, calling on the world to become “more human.”

Lampedusa has long been a symbol of Europe’s migration challenge, with thousands of people arriving there after journeys from North Africa in overcrowded boats. The Central Mediterranean remains the world’s deadliest migration route, according to UN agencies.

The visit recalled Pope Francis’s first trip outside Rome in 2013, when he chose Lampedusa to denounce global indifference to migrant deaths at sea.

Leo’s stop also came as European governments move toward tougher migration rules, including wider detention powers and plans for deportation centers outside the bloc.

The pontiff did not address the social and political backlash fueled by migration across Europe, including strained public services, the loss of societal cohesion and Britain’s grooming-gang scandals.