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Pope Leo on Saturday visited Italy’s Lampedusa island, a major port of call for migrants risking the perilous crossing from Africa, in a stark message to US and EU leaders.
The Catholic Church’s first US pope, who has clashed with the administration of President Donald Trump over its treatment of migrants, is marking July 4, the United States’ 250th anniversary of independence, on a migration frontline.
Leo’s visit also comes just two weeks after the European Union’s approval of new migrant rules allowing much broader detention powers and the creation of deportation centres outside the bloc.
After praying at the unmarked graves of shipwreck victims, the pontiff stood alone on the island’s rocky shoreline, buffeted by the wind as he looked out to sea, where countless migrant boats have been lost to the waves.
He spoke to a migrant family, before taking the children by the hand and standing along with their pregnant mother at the “Door of Europe”, a monument dedicated to people who risk everything in search of a better life.
The Chicago-born Leo has made the defence of migrants a pillar of his papacy, like his Argentinian predecessor Francis, praising those who help the needy and decrying mass deportations in the United States.
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