Pope calls on Europeans to respect the dignity of migrants

Pope Leo XIV. Photo: Getty Images

On June 11, 2026, Pope Leo XIV, during a visit to Spain, called on European peoples to respect the "human dignity" of migrants. This is reported by Life Site News.

In his speech before humanitarian workers at the port of Arguineguín, he stated that welcoming refugees cannot be a secondary issue for Christians. At the same time, the pontiff made no mention of the bloody incident in Northern Ireland, where just two days earlier a migrant from Sudan had attempted to behead a person.

"Dear migrants: before I say anything else to you, I want to bow before your dignity. You are not numbers or files! You are people with families and homes that you have left behind, with dreams that no one has the right to despise," Leo XIV addressed the migrants. He also called on European nations to undertake an "examination of conscience" and to stop viewing the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic as "gravestones without graves."

The pope's words came against the backdrop of a sharp surge in violence by illegal migrants. In Belfast, 40-year-old Steven Ogilvie lost an eye and suffered severe head and facial injuries after being attacked by Hadi Alodid, a native of Muslim Sudan. The latter arrived in the United Kingdom via France and Ireland, having swiftly been granted asylum.

Previously, the pontiff had already sparked a wave of outrage when he effectively equated "mistreatment of migrants" with the sin of abortion.

Some influential Catholic hierarchs also oppose the "open borders" policy.

As SПЖ reported, a migrant in Spain beat a woman because of her Christian faith.

Read also