Pope Leo XIV told migrants at a reception centre on the Spanish island of Tenerife on Friday that “all of us are migrants”, on the final day of a weeklong visit to Spain focused on the plight of irregular immigrants.
Tenerife is one of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, which have become a gateway for tens of thousands of irregular arrivals seeking a better life in Europe.
The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is concluding his trip with a call for more help for migrants and action against traffickers, at a time when immigration remains a hot topic of political debate.
“In a sense, all of us are migrants, for we are all pilgrims on our way to our heavenly homeland,” he said in an address to hundreds of migrants at Las Raices (The Roots), a reception centre housed in a former military barracks that was initially heavily criticised for overcrowding.
“Let us help make this journey more humane for everyone by contributing in whatever way we can,” he added.
