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3d ago

Pope Leo Tells Human Traffickers to 'Stop. Repent' During Canary Islands Visit

He used dockside rituals and meetings with migrants to press governments for safe legal routes and to spotlight the human cost of Atlantic crossings.

MADRID, SPAIN - JUNE 08: Pope Leo XIV speaks during his visit to the Congress of Deputies, 8 June 2026, in Madrid, Spain. Leo XIV is the first Pope to deliver a speech as head of the Vatican State to deputies and senators, as part of his official visit to Spain. (Photo By Cesar Vallejo Rodriguez/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Pope Leo XIV meets migrants at the 'Las Raices' center, in San Cristobal de la Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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Overview

  • Pope Leo concluded his weeklong Apostolic Journey to Spain on Friday, June 12, 2026, with two days of events in the Canary Islands that centered on migration and migrant testimony.
  • Speaking in Arguineguín and Tenerife, he castigate­d human traffickers with the words “Stop. Repent” and warned they will answer to divine justice for organising deadly sea routes.
  • The pope performed symbolic acts, including casting a bouquet into the sea and blessing a cross made from a wrecked boat, to honour those who died and to shame global indifference.
  • In Tenerife he met migrants at the Las Raíces reception centre and urged that reception go beyond rescue to provide legal pathways, work, language support and community integration.
  • His visit reinforces continuity with Pope Francis’s migration focus and increases moral pressure on Spain, EU institutions and NGOs as new EU migration rules take effect and Spain pursues slow regularisation measures.