«Welcome is a serious matter, not only from the point of view of charity, but of the human growth of those who are welcomed and those who welcome». Monsignor Alessandro Damiano, archbishop of Agrigento explains that Pope Leo’s visit, «in the wake of Pope Francis’ visit, means bringing attention to the phenomenon of migration by saying that human dignity must not be shipwrecked in the Mediterranean».
The air is windy in Lampedusa, the high waves they make landings difficult and many who would have wanted to come to participate in Leo XIV’s mass will not be able to be present. Ship San Giusto, of the Navy, patrols the sea. The door of Europe, the work of the sculptor Mimmo Paladino, remembers the dead and the living who passed through here in search of a new future.
The Gate of Europe in Lampedusa where Pope Leo XIV will stop during his visit on 4 July
You don’t see migrants around, as happened a few years ago. The boats are intercepted offshore, the transhipment takes place away from the eyes of the tourists, the people are taken to the hotspot far from the town center and then sent towards Porto Empedocle and other beaches. Arrivals have decreased recently, but not deaths, which have actually recorded a slight increase. «And yet», insists the bishop, «those of the migrants are prophetic visits that help us to read the present with the eyes of God. A gaze that today seems to be lost». Don’t give discounts, Monsignor Damiano. «Human dignity must always be safeguarded, those who are dying at sea must always be saved, then the paths that must be activated will be activated. And if, as they say, the dignity of all of Europe drowns in the Mediterranean, the Holy Father reminds us that this dignity must be safeguarded, not only that of those who drown, but also ours if we do not welcome it”.
«Lampedusa is migration, it is an open door to Europe», he adds Sister Antonietta Papa, coordinator of the UISG intercongregational project in Lampedusathe initiative that Pope Francis wanted by calling nuns from different parts of the world to the island in 2023 to offer assistance to migrants at the Favarolo pier, also acting as a bridge with the local community. «Sometimes the only thing we can do is stay close, with our presenceto comfort even just by looking people in the eyes.”
The local community is very welcoming, «as always happens in islands that are used to shipwrecks and coming to the rescue»underlines the bishop. «And we as Pope Leo expect that, as he has already done at Canary Islands and visiting the relics of Santa Francesca Cabrini, which welcoming means recognizing the dignity of the human person who comes and goes, who must have the possibility and opportunity to choose where to stay and have a better life, fleeing from what he rightly considers to be a life that is not his own.”
One of the most touching moments «will certainly be the visit to the cemetery. The Pope will give a caress to those men and women who found the end of their journey in Lampedusa, without having, while drowning, that caress.”
And then he will see the families and migrants who, despite many difficulties, have made it, but who live in conditions of suffering and with fear of remigration. Certainly a political message will also come from this visit, as was the case with the visit of Pope Francis. The common thread of the two visits is the attention to the people on the move, who are not tourists or travellers. Pope Francis first and Pope Leo then remind us, by coming here, that migrants are people who have a history, relationships, feelings, affections that they suddenly had to abandon. And who carry with them this burden, this weight.” Quote the Madonna of Porto Salvo, Monsignor Damiano, to say that «migrants move because they flee from situations of injustice and take refuge in a “safe port” to escape shipwreck. This is the Marian title of the Madonna to which the people of Lampedusa are deeply devoted. Lampedusa has become the safe haven for many men and women. This community was able to welcome with proximity. He did what the Gospel says by welcoming them in the style of the Samaritan: treating their wounds, dressing them, feeding them, washing them from that mixture of salt water and fuel that burns the skin.. In a context that is becoming increasingly hostile towards migrants, with legislative proposals that make reception increasingly difficult, the people of Lampedusa do not forget that they are dealing with human beings, brothers and sisters”.
