MADRID: Pope Leo has issued a stern warning to human traffickers and criminal groups who exploit desperate migrants trying to reach Europe through Spain’s Canary Islands, telling them to “repent” before God or face being sent to hell.
On the final day of a week-long tour of Spain, in which the pontiff has urged global leaders to treat migrants more humanely, Leo said he wanted to directly address those who “take advantage of people’s desperation (or) organize death routes.”
“Stop. Repent,” said the first US pope. “For every life lost, every family deceived ... you will have to appear before divine justice.”
“Repent while there is still time,” he said, invoking the Catholic belief that someone who did evil in life must confess their sins and make amends or be sent to hell in death.
Leo, who has been more outspoken in his criticism of the direction of global leadership in recent months, is visiting the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the western coast of Africa, as the culmination of his three-stop tour of Spain.
