Defending migrants was a priority for Pope Francis from the earliest days of his papacy
Associated Press
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FILE Pope Francis attends a ceremony at the Karatepe refugee camp on the Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Dec. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
FILE - Pope Francis poses for a selfie photo with a migrant during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Sept. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
FILE - Syrian refugees Wafa, no last name available, and her husband, Osama, hold their children's hands as they arrive with another Syrian family at the St. Egidio Community in Rome, April 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
FILE Hundreds of people gather on the U.S. side of the border to watch as Pope Francis prays at the U.S.-Mexico border fence along the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Feb. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)
FILE - Young men peer through the border wall as U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego prepare for the arrival of hundreds of pro-migration protesters, in Tijuana, Mexico, Dec. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
FILE - People peer through the border wall as U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego prepare for the arrival of hundreds of pro-migration protesters, in Tijuana, Mexico, Dec. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
FILE - Migrants reach through a border wall for clothing handed out by volunteers as they wait for asylum, May 12, 2023, in San Diego, Texas. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
FILE Balloons representing the hopes and struggle of immigrant communities are released during an event organized by the Border Network for Human Rights organization along the border fence on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Feb. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Ivan Pierre Aguirre, File)
FILE A Border Patrol van transports a group of migrants, Jan. 21, 2025, after they crossed illegally between two border walls separating Mexico and the United States in San Diego, Texas. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
FILE - A cross stands on the Mexican side of the border with the United States hours before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, Jan. 19, 2025, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)
FILE - Migrants and refugees wait for assistance on an overcrowded wooden boat in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, Feb. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Bruno Thevenin, File)
FILE - Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
FILE - Migrants and refugees walk behind a cross in a camp set up by volunteers near the port of Mytilini, on the Greek island of Lesbos, April 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
FILE - Pope Francis, center, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, left, and Archbishop of Athens Ieronymos II, toss floral wreaths into the sea on the Greek island of Lesbos, April 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
FILE A model boat hangs from the ceiling of the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica as Pope Francis delivers a speech in Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)
FILE-- Pope Francis, left, speaks to migrants, wearing white caps, during his visit to the island of Lampedusa, Sicily, in southern Italy, July 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool, File)
FILE - Pope Francis poses for selfie photos with migrants at a regional migrant center in Bologna, Italy, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
FILE - Pope Francis waves to a cheering crowd during his visit to the island of Lampedusa, Sicily, in southern Italy, July 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
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FILE Pope Francis attends a ceremony at the Karatepe refugee camp on the Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Dec. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)