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Pope Leo XIV Visits Canary Islands Amid Migration Crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n Pope Leo XIV arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands on Thursday, right after criticizing the country\u2019s immigration policies during a speech at the Spanish Parliament. This visit takes place as the islands become a key spot for migrants attempting to enter Europe.<\/p>\n On Friday, the Pope is scheduled to meet with about 1,000 migrants to conclude his trip, Mexico being a significant Christian country. His arrival at Gran Canaria came after addressing the urgent need for change in Europe\u2019s immigration policies.<\/p>\n During his visit, Pope Leo met with migrants and leaders of organizations providing aid. At the Port of Arguineguin, he led a moment of silence for those who lost their lives while trying to reach the shore, a location that gained notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic when over 1,000 migrants were left stranded.<\/p>\n The Pope emphasized the importance of treating each migrant with dignity, saying, “You are not just numbers. You are people with families and dreams.” He expressed the need to stop regarding migrant deaths as a common occurrence.<\/p>\n With a call for “legal and safe pathways” for immigration, Pope Leo urged Christians to treat foreigners with respect and kindness as he wrapped up the Catholic Holy Year.<\/p>\n Gran Canaria, situated close to West Africa, has seen a troubling rise in migrant deaths. According to the NGO Caminando Fronteras, more than 3,000 individuals tragically lost their lives in attempts to reach the islands in 2025.<\/p>\n In recent years, the influx of migrants has surged. The Canary Islands recorded over 46,000 irregular migrants in 2024, a stark contrast to fewer than 1,000 in 2015.<\/p>\n A boat captain assisting charities, who has rescued over 20,000 migrants in 18 years, shared his feelings about the situation, stating, “It makes me sick. I wish we didn\u2019t have to save anyone.”<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has recently taken steps to improve immigration policies, approving a plan to grant legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants. However, some conservative lawmakers criticized the Pope\u2019s remarks, reminding him that the Vatican has its own strict immigration guidelines.<\/p>\n Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s Vox party, pointed out that the Vatican deals harshly with illegal immigration. “If someone enters illegally, they face fines and a ban. I want similar rules for Spain,” he stated.<\/p>\n As discussions around migration continue, Pope Leo\u2019s visit shines a light on the human aspect of this pressing issue.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pope Leo XIV Visits Canary Islands Amid Migration Crisis Pope Leo XIV arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands on Thursday, right after criticizing the country\u2019s immigration policies during a speech at the Spanish Parliament. This visit takes place as the islands become a key spot for migrants attempting to enter Europe. On Friday, the Pope is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[20039,2858,13789,25149,12109],"class_list":["post-34350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world-news","tag-human-rights","tag-immigration","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-refugees","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}