Pope Leo XIV landed in Spain's Canary Islands, an epicenter for incoming migrants seeking entry into Europe, on Thursday just days after criticizing the country's immigration policies in a speech to Spain's Parliament.Pope Leo will meet with 1,000 migrants on Friday to cap off his apostolic journey to Spain, the European country with the sixth largest Christian population on the continent.Following his parliamentary speech Monday in which he took aim at Europe's immigration polices, Pope Leo landed Thursday on the island chain's Gran Canaria, according to Reuters.On Thursday he met with migrants and leaders of international organizations that assist migrants, holding a moment of silence for migrants who died trying to reach Gran Canaria at Port of Arguineguin, a dock which made headlines in 2020 after over 1,000 migrants ended up stranded there during the Covid-19 pandemic.POPE LEO SAYS COUNTRIES HAVE RIGHT TO CONTROL THEIR BORDERS, ADVOCATES FOR HUMANE TREATMENT OF MIGRANTSPope Leo XIV observes a minute of silence after making a floral offering to migrants lost at sea at the dock of the Port of Arguineguin in Gran Canaria, Spain, June 11, 2026.(REUTERS/Elena Rodriguez)Relief organizations came to call the Port of Arguineguin the "Dock of Shame" after the migrant crisis, a theme Pope Leo seemed to pick up on while speaking at the port Thursday."Dear migrants, before saying anything else to you, I want to bow before your dignity," the pope said.
"You are not just numbers or files.You are people who have left behind families and homes.
You have dreams that no one has the right to despise," Pope Leo said at the dock."We cannot grow accustomed to counting the dead," he added.POPE LEO CALLS FOR CHRISTIANS TO TREAT FOREIGNERS WITH KINDNESS AS HE CLOSES CATHOLIC HOLY YEARHe also called for "legal and safe pathways" for immigration worldwide.Pope Leo XIV on the day of a meeting with organizations working with migrants at the Port of Arguineguin, during his apostolic journ...