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Pope Leo visits Lampedusa to spotlight missing migrants

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Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Pope Leo visits Lampedusa to spotlight missing migrants Pope Leo XIV will spend July 4th in Lampedusa, Italy, one of Europe's busiest migrant landing points. He will pray with migrants and honor those who died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. World Pope Leo visits Lampedusa to spotlight missing migrants July 4, 20265:03 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Megan Williams Pope Leo visits Lampedusa to spotlight missing migrants Listen &middot; 2:35 2:35 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5879160/nx-s1-9836523" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Pope Leo XIV will spend July 4th in Lampedusa, Italy, one of Europe's busiest migrant landing points. He will pray with migrants and honor those who died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
− Sponsor Message DON GONYEA, HOST: A day after Pope Leo urged Americans to live up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and embrace the country's history of welcoming migrants, the Catholic leader traveled to a Mediterranean island that has become a symbol of people risking their lives to flee war and poverty.
+ Sponsor Message Transcript DON GONYEA, HOST: A day after Pope Leo urged Americans to live up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and embrace the country's history of welcoming migrants, the Catholic leader traveled to a Mediterranean island that has become a symbol of people risking their lives to flee war and poverty.
Megan Williams reports. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken). MEGAN WILLIAMS: On Lampedusa, the wind was so strong it whipped Pope Leo's white cassock and blew the skull cap off his head. But his message was firm. On Saturday, the first U.S. Pope came to Europe's migration front line, a tiny Italian island closer to Africa than the Italian mainland, where thousands of migrants arrive each year after perilous crossings from Libya or Tunisia. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) POPE LEO XIV: (Non-English language spoken). WILLIAMS: Leo laid flowers at a cemetery for migrants who died at sea. Then walked through the island's Door of Europe monument. More than 35,000 people have gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014, and Leo chose the Fourth of July to come here and deliver his homily. JOHN LYDON: No, I don't think it was an accident. WILLIAMS: Augustinian priest John Lydon worked in Peru for 10 years with Leo long before he became Pope. He says Leo was speaking both to Europe and to his native United States. LYDON: One of our litmus tests of our society today in terms of moral value is how we treat migrants and refugees. WILLIAMS: Lydon says Leo's concern for migrants goes back decades. LYDON: We lived during the years of terrorism and the authoritarian government. And so defending human rights was very important to our community, and he was in the forefront of that and doing it when it wasn't convenient. WILLIAMS: On Lampedusa, Leo sent that same message across the Mediterranean. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) LEO XIV: (Non-English language spoken). WILLIAMS: He urged Europe to welcome, protect and integrate migrants while helping develop the countries they're fleeing. And he warned that the dead in this sea are victims not only of decisions made, but of decisions not made, of exclusion and prejudice. ELISE ANN ALLEN: This is a message. WILLIAMS: Says Vatican observer Elise Ann Allen of the Catholic online magazine Crux. ALLEN: A pro-migrant message as an American pope on the Independence Day of his nation, which right now is implementing a very harsh anti-migrant policy. WILLIAMS: From an isolated, windswept island on the Fourth of July, Leo made migration not just Europe's problem, but America's mirror. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing in non-English language). Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
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