Migrants in Tenerife tell Pope: We do not ask for privileges, only respect

‘As I look at your faces and listen to your stories, I also think of your hearts – wounded by so many difficulties, yet also comforted by the love you have received from other open, generous and merciful hearts,’ Leo said.

Migrants greeted Pope Leo in Tenerife where he arrived on Friday for the last stop of his apostolic journey to Spain and the Canary Islands.

“No one leaves their land, their family and their roots by choice when they can live in peace,” said Bousso Diouf, a woman from Senegal, who was among a group that spoke to the Pope at the Las Raíces reception centre.

Pope Leo landed in Tenerife early in the morning from Las Palmas and went to the large camp set up inside a former rural military barracks, where he listened to those housed there.

There are around 700 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa – all adult men – currently housed at the centre, located in a humid, eucalyptus-filled area about 3,300 feet above sea level. Las Raíces opened in 2021 in response to the 2020 cayuco crisis, when more than 23,000 migrants arrived on the coasts of the Canary Islands.

The number currently housed in the centre is relatively low compared with the hardest years of the cayuco crisis, especially at the end of 2024, when the centre received between 2,000 and 3,000 migrants amid overcrowding and widely reported tensions.

Most come from Senegal, Gambia and Mali, and on average spend about three months there before being transferred to mainland Spain. They arrive exhausted after spending up to 72 hours in police custody for identification and registration procedures.

“We come from countries where poverty, violence, war, persecution, and lack of opportunity forced us to leave,” Diouf said. More than 54,000 people have passed through Las Raíces.

Navarro Atiénzar, regional director of Accem, the charity that manages the centre, told Pope Leo: “Our work is to offer them an initial welcome that is dignified, humane, and organized at an especially difficult moment, immediately after their arrival by sea.”

One young Nigerian man said that crossing the ocean to the Canary Islands means facing hunger, cold, desperation and often death.

“Many brothers and sisters lost their lives at sea, and others continue to suffer in silence, victims of mafias that take advantage of need and human suffering,” he said.

He also made a plea for humanity: “May we not be seen only as migrants, numbers, or documents, but as people with stories, dreams, families, and hope.”

“We do not ask for privileges. We do not ask for compassion. We ask for respect, humanity and the opportunity to live with dignity,” he said.

Among those present was Aliu Ceesay, a 16-year-old Gambian who arrived in the Canary Islands just one month ago in an irregular boat. Like many other migrant minors, his goal is to find work so he can help support his family.

Aliu has followed Pope Leo online. The teenager said he wanted to see him in person and was struck by the Pope’s message.

“I have been following him on the internet and wanted to see him. He is very kind, very good,” Aliu said. He also emphasised the Pope’s inclusive spirit: “He does not care if we are black or white, Muslim or Christian. He wants to help us.”

In his address, Leo repeated the message he gave on the first day he arrived in Las Palmas: “God’s love knows no borders, makes no distinctions, is given to all and brings us together in unity.”

“As I look at your faces and listen to your stories, I also think of your hearts – wounded by so many difficulties, yet also comforted by the love you have received from other open, generous and merciful hearts,” the Pope said.

“Christ’s heart suffered and was pierced out of love, and he was also comforted by compassionate people who eased his pain.”

The Pope dedicated part of his address to missionary saints such as St Peter of St Joseph de Betancur and St José de Anchieta, who set out from the Canary Islands as missionaries to the Americas.

“They too were migrants who ventured into the unknown, carrying faith, hope and charity as their greatest possessions,” Leo said.

He called for “responsibility” with an eye toward future generations, to whom, he said, “we wish to bequeath the heritage of a civilisation of love”.

“Migration will play an important role in this,” he said, because it “can become an opportunity for encounter and mutual enrichment among peoples”.

“Dear brothers and sisters, in a sense, all of us are migrants, for we are all pilgrims on our way to our heavenly homeland,” he said. “Let us help make this journey more humane for everyone by contributing in whatever way we can.”

The Pope said the name of the centre, Las Raíces – “the roots” – had caught his attention. He recalled that Pope Francis, “who so longed to be with you”, often used the image of roots “to emphasise the importance of remembering our origins, staying united and trusting in the Lord”.

“May this image of roots also help you to be firmly rooted in the Lord, so that no storm may drive you away from his presence, which strengthens and gives life,” Leo said.

At the end of his address, the Pope told those gathered: “Dear friends, I carry you in my heart and will remember you in my prayers. May God bless you, your families and all who do good to you. And may the Blessed Virgin Mary, Consolation of Migrants, always accompany and assist you with her maternal protection.”

During the meeting, when Leo announced that he would speak in French and English, many migrants responded with applause.

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