LAMPEDUSA — Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on a Saturday. He is scheduled to arrive in Lampedusa by helicopter early in the morning.

During his visit, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit the Porta d'Europa migrant memorial monument. He will also visit a cemetery in Lampedusa that contains unmarked graves of individuals who died during Mediterranean crossings. The pope plans to bless a plaque on a pier named after Pope Francis, who visited Lampedusa in July 2013.

Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to celebrate mass in Lampedusa. He also plans to speak with survivors of Mediterranean crossings and humanitarian workers. He is scheduled to leave Lampedusa shortly after midday.

Vatican journalist and author Marco Politi said, "Leo's trip to Lampedusa is strongly symbolic and is also a political sign." Politi added, "He is focusing on the theme of immigration."

Kandeh Abdourahman, a cultural mediator for the International Rescue Committee, said, "I was one of those thousands who crossed the Mediterranean and landed in Lampedusa in 2015, exhausted and uncertain." He added, "The pope's visit speaks to every one of us – a reminder that our stories are seen, that 'welcome' is not just a word but an act of humanity that can help us reach all 118 million people displaced in the world today."

Lampedusa has a population of approximately 6,000 residents. The International Organization for Migration has recorded tens of thousands of deaths among individuals departing from Tunisia or Libya since 2014. Between January and early April, nearly 1,000 people were reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean by the International Organization for Migration. Data from the Italian Red Cross, cited by Vatican News, indicates that more than 182,000 people have transited Lampedusa's reception center in the past three years.