Advocating for migrants was one of top priorities. His papacy saw a refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, skyrocketing numbers of migrants in the Americas, and declining public empathy that led to increasingly restrictive policies around the world.
Francis repeatedly took up the plight of migrants 鈥� from bringing asylum-seekers to the Vatican with him from overcrowded island camps to denouncing border initiatives of U.S. President Donald Trump. On the day before , Francis briefly met with , with whom he had tangled long-distance over deportation plans.
Some memorable moments when Francis spoke out to defend migrants:
July 8, 2013, Lampedusa, Italy
For his first pastoral visit outside Rome following his election, Francis traveled to the Italian island of Lampedusa 鈥� a speck in the Mediterranean whose proximity to North Africa put it on the front line of many smuggling routes and deadly shipwrecks.
Meeting migrants who had been in Libya, he decried their suffering and that met those who risked their lives trying to reach Europe.
A decade later, in a September 2023 visit to the , Francis again blasted the toward migrants as European policymakers doubled down on borders amid the rise of the anti-immigration far-right.
April 16, 2016, Lesbos, Greece
Francis traveled to the Greek island of Lesbos at the height of a refugee crisis in which hundreds of thousands of people arrived after fleeing civil war in Syria and other conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia.
to Italy on the papal plane. Rescuing those 12 Syrians from an overwhelmed island camp was 鈥渁 drop of water in the sea. But after this drop, the sea will never be the same,鈥� Francis said.
During his hospitalization in early 2025, that settled in Rome said Francis didn't just change their lives.
鈥淗e wanted to begin a global dialogue to let world leaders know that even an undocumented migrant is not something to fear,鈥� said Hasan Zaheda.
His wife, Nour Essa, added: 鈥淗e fought to broadcast migrant voices, to explain that migrants in the end are just human beings who have suffered in wars.鈥�
The news of Francis' death shocked the family and they mourned 鈥渨ith the whole of humanity,鈥� Zaheda said.
In December 2021, Francis again had a dozen asylum-seekers brought to Italy, this time .
Feb. 17, 2016, at the US-Mexico border
Celebrating a in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, that was beamed live to neighboring El Paso, Texas, Francis prayed for 鈥渙pen hearts鈥� when faced with the 鈥渉uman tragedy that is forced migration.鈥�
Answering a reporter鈥檚 question while flying back to Rome, Francis said Trump, at the time a presidential candidate, was campaigning to do just that, and responded that it was 鈥渄isgraceful鈥� to question a person鈥檚 faith. He criticized the pope for not understanding 鈥渢he danger of the open border that we have with Mexico.鈥�
Oct. 24, 2021, Vatican City
As pressures surged in Italy and elsewhere in Europe to crack down on illegal migration, to end the practice of returning those people rescued at sea to Libya and other unsafe countries where they suffer 鈥渋nhumane violence.鈥�
He called detention facilities in Libya 鈥渢rue concentration camps.鈥� From there, thousands of migrants are taken by traffickers on often unseaworthy vessels. The Mediterranean Sea has become with more than 30,000 deaths since 2014, when the International Organization for Migration鈥檚 Missing Migrants Project began counting.
Feb. 12, 2025, Vatican City
After Trump returned to the White House in part by riding a wave of public anger at illegal immigration, Francis assailed U.S. plans for mass deportations,
With Trump making a flurry of policy changes cracking down on , Francis and warned that deportations 鈥渨ill end badly.鈥�
鈥淭he act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women,鈥� he wrote.
U.S. border czar Tom Homan immediately pushed back, noting the Vatican is a city-state surrounded by walls and that Francis should leave border enforcement to his office.
When Vance visited over Easter weekend, he first met with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Afterward, the Holy See reaffirmed cordial relations and common interests, but noted over current international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Giovanna Dell'orto And Renata Brito, The Associated Press
