Speaking in Tenerife, one of the islands that has become a major route for irregular migration to Europe, the pope described integration as a “reciprocal journey” and called on migrants to learn local languages, respect laws, understand customs and participate in community life.

The pope also warned of what he called a “silent shipwreck” after migrants reach their destinations, saying some are left without support, social connections, work or security and become vulnerable to exploitation.

The visit marked the final day of a weeklong trip to Spain focused on migration issues. The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics called for greater assistance for migrants and stronger action against human trafficking networks.

He urged those involved in trafficking people to “stop and repent,” drawing applause from the audience.

Tenerife and other Canary Islands have become a gateway for thousands of migrants attempting to reach Europe from Africa. The route across the Atlantic has been among the world’s most dangerous migration paths.

Earlier in the visit, Leo condemned indifference toward migrants and honored those who died attempting the journey by casting a wreath into the sea at the port of Arguineguin.

“Human dignity has no passport,” he said while blessing a wooden cross made from material taken from a migrant boat.

The International Organization for Migration reported that nearly 1,200 people died or went missing while traveling from Africa to the Canary Islands last year.

The pope said the deaths should prompt governments in countries of origin and transit to address the conditions that push people to flee poverty and conflict, while also confronting trafficking groups.

Leo is scheduled to travel to Rome after the visit and is expected to speak with reporters during the journey. He is also set to visit Italy’s Lampedusa island on July 4, another major arrival point for migrants entering Europe.

In one of the most significant political speeches of his papacy, Leo called on governments to pursue peace, address the root causes of migration and exercise greater ethical oversight of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.”The world is undergoing a profound spiritual and cultural crisis, which is manifested in multiple forms of violence, polarization, and mutual distrust,” the pope told lawmakers in Madrid.

Speaking hours after renewed exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran, he said military force could not provide lasting solutions to global conflicts.”Weapons can impose a temporary silence, but they can never build an authentic and lasting peace,” he said.The address, delivered in Spanish and met with a prolonged standing ovation, marked the first speech by a pope before Spain’s national parliament and formed a centerpiece of Leo’s week-long visit to the country.

The pontiff devoted significant attention to migration, describing the treatment of migrants as a test of the international community’s moral principles. He argued that governments should move beyond simply managing migration flows and instead address the underlying causes driving displacement, including war, poverty and climate change.

“The moral greatness of a nation is manifested above all in its capacity to accompany, protect, and love those lives that pass through the greatest fragility,” Leo said.His remarks come as Spain continues to confront migration pressures along routes linking West Africa to the Canary Islands.

According to rights group Caminando Fronteras, more than 3,000 migrants died attempting the crossing in 2025.Leo also criticized the acceleration of defense spending across Europe, describing the trend as troubling at a time when diplomatic efforts should be prioritized.

European military expenditures rose sharply over the past year amid security concerns and pressure from the United States for NATO members to increase defense budgets.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has resisted calls for NATO countries to raise defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product, although Spain’s military budget has increased substantially during his tenure.The pope further urged governments to establish rigorous ethical safeguards governing the use of artificial intelligence, particularly in military applications.

Last month, he issued a broader appeal for international oversight of advanced AI systems.Addressing relations between religion and the state, Leo defended religious freedom and argued that faith should remain part of public discourse.

He also reaffirmed the confidentiality of the Catholic seal of confession, which prohibits priests from disclosing information shared during confession.Several European countries have debated whether clergy should be legally required to report allegations of abuse disclosed during confessions following a series of sexual abuse scandals within the Catholic Church.

Leo said preserving the confidentiality of confession protected a sacred space of individual conscience and spiritual freedom.Although the Vatican has announced that the pope will meet victims of clerical abuse during his visit to Spain, Leo did not address the issue directly in his parliamentary speech.

The visit reflects the pope’s increasingly active engagement with global political debates, including war, migration, technology and the role of democratic institutions in addressing mounting international challenges.

The visit includes stops in Madrid, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Montserrat Monastery, and the Canary Islands.

The pope is expected to highlight the plight of migrants, meet asylum seekers in Tenerife, and call for dialogue amid growing political and social divisions worldwide. Vatican officials said he is also likely to speak against ongoing wars and rising polarization.

During the trip, Pope Leo will become the first pope to address the Spanish parliament. He is also scheduled to meet King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia and visit charitable organizations supporting vulnerable communities.

The visits will take the pontiff to two major gateways for African migrants seeking entry into Europe. Although migrant arrivals have fallen this year, particularly in the Canary Islands, immigration and integration remain contentious issues across Europe’s traditionally Catholic societies.

Church leaders and migrant advocates hope the trips will shift attention toward humanitarian concerns and the challenges faced by migrants rather than political disputes.

The pope is expected to meet migrants and pay tribute to those who died attempting dangerous sea crossings. His visit follows the migration-focused legacy of Pope Francis, who made Lampedusa the destination of his first pastoral trip outside Rome in 2013.

Catholic organizations in Spain and Italy continue to provide assistance to migrants arriving through Atlantic and Mediterranean routes, while debates over migration policy increasingly divide political parties and public opinion.

The visits come as European governments balance border control measures with growing calls from religious and humanitarian groups for a more compassionate approach toward migrants and asylum seekers.

A first group of passengers, all Spanish nationals and none displaying symptoms of infection, disembarked from the ship into small boats as the vessel approached the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Spain’s health ministry said.

Spanish officials said the passengers would be transported in sealed military buses directly to Tenerife’s airport before being flown aboard a government aircraft to Madrid for hospital evaluation and quarantine measures.

Authorities said all passengers would undergo testing by Spanish health officials before onward transport. Foreign nationals are expected to be repatriated in stages using specially arranged flights coordinated by their respective governments rather than commercial air services.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, or ECDC, classified all passengers and crew as high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure in rapid scientific guidance issued late Saturday. The agency said symptomatic passengers should receive priority medical evaluation and testing upon arrival and may either remain isolated in Tenerife or be medically evacuated home depending on their condition.

Thirty crew members are expected to remain aboard the vessel, which will later sail to the Netherlands for disinfection operations, according to Spanish authorities.The ship departed waters off Cape Verde earlier this week after the World Health Organization and the European Union requested Spain coordinate the evacuation effort following confirmation of the outbreak.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in Tenerife on Saturday alongside senior Spanish ministers to oversee preparations for the ship’s arrival and passenger transfer operations.The WHO said eight people aboard the vessel had fallen ill, including three fatalities involving a Dutch couple and a German national.

Six infections have been laboratory confirmed, while two additional cases remain under investigation.Hantavirus is primarily transmitted through exposure to infected rodents, though health officials say limited person-to-person transmission can occur in rare circumstances.

The WHO has assessed the risk to the wider global population as low while describing the threat to passengers and crew aboard the vessel as moderate.Spanish authorities said evacuation operations were expected to continue throughout the day under strict biosecurity protocols at Tenerife’s Port of Granadilla.

Tedros said he would travel to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands to oversee the disembarkation of passengers, crew members and medical personnel from the Dutch-flagged cruise vessel MV Hondius, which is carrying around 150 people.“I arrived in Spain, where I will join senior government officials in a mission to Tenerife to oversee safe disembarkation,” Tedros said in a post on X.

Three passengers a Dutch couple and a German woman have died after contracting hantavirus during the voyage, while several others have fallen ill, according to health officials.The outbreak has drawn heightened international attention after authorities confirmed infections linked to the Andes virus strain, the only known hantavirus variant capable of transmitting between humans.

Most hantavirus infections are typically spread through contact with infected rodents or their droppings.Tedros said he had remained in direct contact with the ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, and WHO physician Freddy Banza-Mutoka, who is on board the vessel.

“At this stage, there are no additional people on board showing symptoms of hantavirus,” Tedros said, adding that the World Health Organization continued to monitor the situation closely.

He also said the health risk to residents of the Canary Islands and the broader international public remained low.The MV Hondius is expected to dock in Tenerife on Sunday, where Spanish authorities have prepared surveillance and containment measures before arranging special flights to return passengers to their home countries.

Spain’s government said Tedros would meet Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid before traveling to the Canary Islands alongside Spain’s health and interior ministers.Spanish ministry officials said the WHO chief would join a command center in Tenerife responsible for coordinating health controls, interagency cooperation and emergency response protocols linked to the ship’s arrival.

The incident has intensified scrutiny over infectious disease preparedness aboard international cruise vessels, particularly involving pathogens with rare but potentially serious transmission characteristics.

Spain’s health ministry said a decision on the most appropriate port would be taken only after reviewing the data, adding that the matter had been communicated to the World Health Organization. The vessel, carrying 149 passengers and crew of 23 nationalities, has been held offshore after Cape Verde denied it permission to dock.

Passengers and crew have been placed under strict isolation measures, including confinement to cabins, hygiene protocols and ongoing medical monitoring, according to the ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions. The company confirmed three deaths during the journey, though it said the role of hantavirus in those fatalities has not been established.
Cape Verde authorities blocked the ship from docking at the port of Praia, citing the need to protect public health.

Officials said there would be no direct contact between those on board and the local population.
The cruise, which departed from Ushuaia in Argentina, reported that one passenger confirmed with hantavirus is currently in intensive care in Johannesburg. Two crew members, one British and one Dutch, also required urgent medical attention, though hantavirus infection in those cases has not been confirmed.

The World Health Organization said the overall risk to the wider public remains low, despite confirming at least one case and identifying several suspected infections. WHO officials said passengers were being advised to remain in isolation while disinfection and containment measures continue onboard.

Spain’s Canary Islands are being considered as a potential disembarkation point where further medical screening could take place, though no formal decision has been announced.

Health authorities in Cape Verde said they were awaiting authorization from the Netherlands and Britain for an air ambulance to evacuate some individuals from the vessel. Medical teams have assessed patients onboard but have not been permitted to transfer them ashore.

The first fatalities linked to the voyage included a Dutch passenger who died onboard on April 11 and his wife, who died on April 27 after disembarking in St. Helena. A German passenger died on Saturday, according to the ship operator.

WHO officials said investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the deaths and whether they are linked to hantavirus. The agency added that while infections are rare and typically associated with rodent exposure, cases can lead to severe respiratory illness and require close monitoring.