The pope has attacked what he calls the
"globalisation of indifference" that greets migrants who risk their
lives trying to reach a better life in Europe.
Francis travelled to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to meet with migrants who reached Italy from Africa and pray for those who died trying.
During a Mass on Lampedusa's main sports field, he lamented that we all "have forgotten how to cry" for migrants lost at sea.
He also denounced smugglers who take advantage of migrants' poverty to get rich by transporting them to Italy on overcrowded boats.
Francis, whose own ancestors immigrated to Argentina from Italy, travelled to the farthest reaches of Italy to draw attention to the plight of migrants and the need to offer them a life of dignity.