Pope Leo, in the Canary Islands, Talks Immigration
This week, Pope Leo visited the Canary Islands--an "autonomous community of Spain" off the Western coast of Africa.
He met with migrants at the Las Raíces Center in Tenerife and listened to their stories. He said: "As I look at your faces and listen to your stories ... I also think of your hearts — wounded by so many difficulties, yet also comforted by the love you have received from other open, generous and merciful hearts." He told the migrants: "I carry you in my heart and will remember you in my prayers."
During a meeting with humanitarian aid workers, Pope Leo exhorted migrant traffickers to "Stop. Repent ... For every life lost, every family deceived, every body subjugated, every woman threatened, every worker exploited, you will have to appear before divine justice."
I was particularly moved by this statement: "A human conscience, and even more so a Christian conscience, cannot remain indifferent in the face of these graveyards of the sea, to the victims of shipwrecks and the lack of aid ... Every life lost on these routes is a failure for the human family."
For those who speak Spanish, enjoy this video (skip to 30:30 for the pope himself):
