Pope Leo, the primary U.S. chief of the worldwide Catholic Church, will spend the Independence Day vacation this yr visiting an Italian island referred to as the primary port of name for migrants crusing from North Africa for Europe.
The pope will go to Lampedusa on July 4, the Vatican introduced on Thursday, as a part of a collection of visits he’ll make this summer season to cities throughout Italy.
Lampedusa sits within the Mediterranean between Tunisia, Malta and the bigger Italian island of Sicily. The Lampedusa go to will come on the day the U.S. celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence.
Vatican Pool by way of Getty Images
Leo, initially from Chicago, has known as for “deep reflection” about the best way migrants are being handled within the U.S. underneath President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Vatican earlier this month refuted studies that the pope would possibly journey to the U.S. for the celebrations this yr, with the press workplace stating: “The pope will not go to the United States in 2026.”
Lampedusa is a vacation spot on what has grow to be one of many world’s deadliest migration routes, the place many individuals land after crossing the Mediterranean usually in easy fishing boats or makeshift dinghies.
The island was visited by the late Pope Francis in 2013 on his first go to as pope exterior Rome.
In a video message despatched to the island in September, Leo had talked about a need to go to and had thanked native organizations who provide help to arriving migrants.
He mentioned volunteers on the island “have shown … the smile and the attention of a human face to people who have survived in a desperate journey of hope.”
Among the opposite journeys the Vatican introduced on Thursday, Leo will go to the cities of Pompei, Naples and Acerra in May, Pavia in June, and Assisi and Rimini in August. (Reporting by Joshua McElwee Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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