“From this square, I want to address a clear word to those who prey on desperation.
“To those who organize routes of death, traffic in human beings, withhold documents, exploit workers, threaten women, deceive families, and turn the suffering of others into a business.
“Stop. Repent.
“The tears and the blood of these brothers and sisters cry out to God, and their sufferings reach him.
“Money torn from the vulnerability of the poor gives no peace, no honor, no future.
For every life lost, every family deceived, every body subjected, every woman threatened, every worker exploited — they will have to answer before divine justice.” — Pope Leo XIV
"Dear migrants, before saying anything else to you, I want to bow before your dignity. You are not just numbers or files," Pope Leo XIV said in a meeting with organizations working with migrants at the Port of Arguineguína in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
In his address the Pope also called governments and international institutions to share the responsibility in addressing migration. Europe "cannot claim to uphold human dignity while growing accustomed to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic becoming unmarked graves," he insisted.
“Dear migrants, before I say any other word to you, I want to bow before your dignity.
“You are not numbers or case files.
“You are people — with a family and a home left behind, with dreams that no one has the right to scorn.” — Pope Leo XIV