The papal message and European migratory policy
BarcelonaIf the papal trip to Spain had an underlying message, it is the one that took place this Thursday at the Arguineguín dock, in Gran Canaria. There, next to two migrant survivors of the crossings from Africa, Leo XIV threw a bouquet of flowers into the sea in memory of the thousands of people who die every year in the Atlantic trying to reach the archipelago. According to data from the NGO Caminando Fronteras, 635 people have already died since the beginning of the year. In this scenario, the pontiff's words were very forceful on the very day the so-called Migration Pact in the European Union comes into force: "Human dignity has no passport and does not lose value when crossing a border – he recalled–. What remains of our humanity?", he asked.
Unfortunately, the course of European policies, driven by conservative governments but also by some social democrats like the Danish one, seems to be going in the opposite direction. The legislative package that comes into force this Friday is a compendium of measures that precisely seeks to put more obstacles to asylum. And how does it do it? Basically, by lowering European standards in human rights matters. Thus, the time a person can be detained at the border is extended, the grounds that can be used to justify exceptions in the application of asylum deadlines are increased, and agreements with third countries will be strengthened so that immigrants stay before they reach the EU. In the coming months, moreover, detention centers for immigrants will be opened in third countries, similar to the one that Meloni's Italy has opened in Albania.
Precisely, the Advocate General of the CJEU issued an opinion this Thursday which effectively overturns these centers, as it sets a series of conditions for adapting to Community law that are almost impossible to meet. The Advocate General emphasizes that detention must be compatible with procedural law, and this means that detained individuals must have easy access to lawyers and family, which would not be met in the case of these centers, whose philosophy is based on alienating immigrants as much as possible.
The Pope's speech has special significance because it once again places at the center one of the main cultural contributions of the West to the world, which is Christian humanism, with the principle of the equality of all human beings above nationalities, races, languages, or religions. This is a basic pillar of the European Union, and it is in danger due to the rise of the far-right in a context of profound demographic changes caused by a cocktail of low European birth rates, the need for labor, and multiple crises, whether warlike or climatic, that plague the Third World. And it is here where Leo XIV holds up a mirror to European Christians and urges them to return to the most basic principles of the doctrine. And to turn Jesus' message not into empty words but into concrete actions and decisions.
