The mayor of Lampedusa and Linosa, Filippo Mannino, has announced that he has started a procedure to name the pier of Favarolo after Pope Francis, who died on Monday (April 21) at the age of 88.

"We will discuss with port authorities to start procedures to name the pier of Favarolo after Pope Francis to commemorate his visit on July 8, 2013. During that visit, he stepped on that pier, opening his arms towards the Mediterranean," said Mannino.

The Argentine pontiff in July 2013 made a landmark visit to Lampedusa after a migrant boat went down, drowning scores of people -- his first trip outside Rome since his election earlier that year.

The mayor said he had been thinking about kickstarting the process for a while and decided to move ahead after the pontiff's death on April 21, interpreting the feelings of local residents who were shaken by the news.

Lampedusa chosen for first apostolic trip

"The images of Francis who walks on the Favarolo pier and opens his arms towards the sea, throwing a wreath of flowers, bring back to memory his powerful message of brotherhood, peace, hosting and friendship that will remain engraved in the history of humanity," explained the mayor of Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost island and the point of arrival for many migrants and refugees making the dangerous Mediterranean sea crossing.

"This is why we want to name this place after Pope Francis, so the memory of his powerful and revolutionary message will never die in its simplicity," he continued.

"Pope Francis has particular, special importance for this island", the mayor went on to say.

"Lampedusa was chosen for his first apostolic trip and has remained a symbol in the world of the cry against indifference towards migrants. Nobody here has ever forgotten, and the feelings have remained the same", he noted, recalling "that visit, his wish to walk on the pier of Favarolo, the meeting with fishermen, the boat he wanted to take to throw the wreath of flowers into the sea, the homage to the victims," off the southernmost tip of the island, in front of the Door to Europe monument commemorating those who died while crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

"He left an indelible mark here, there is a route dedicated to him, with pictures taken at the time," inside the local museum.

"A key detail of that visit is that the majority of boys who were born that year were named 'Francis' by their parents," said Mannino.

After the double shipwreck of 2023, I wrote to the pope, says Mannino

In April 2023, following a double shipwreck in the Maltese search and rescue zone, after he was woken up at night because eight coffins were required on the pier of Favarolo for the victims, Mannino said he wrote a letter to express his anguish to Pope Francis, President Sergio Mattarella and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Mannino said that, "with a heavy heart", he had witnessed the arrival of over 54 bodies of migrants who had perished at sea since he had been elected mayor in June 2022. A few hours after the pontiff received the letter, the Holy See called Mannino to organize a meeting with Pope Francis.

"I got the call at 3:58 -- another group of victims to receive," the mayor recalled.

"I had been mayor for just nine months, and I had already received nearly 60 bodies. After receiving that call from port authorities, as we followed a specific procedure (of calling a funeral home and finding a spot at the local cemetery), I couldn't go back to sleep. I felt defeated. In my first year in office, I had done everything except work as a mayor, only dealing with immigration and death. I didn't know what to do anymore, and I wrote to Pope Francis, asking him to pray for these victims and to give me the strength to go forward."

"That day, Pope Bergoglio was in hospital. Exactly three days later, I received a call from the Vatican and was told that Pope Francis had read the letter and wanted to meet me. In the afternoon, I got another call scheduling an appointment on April 26. Then Pope Francis got hurt and the meeting could not be organized again, also due to his growing health problems," Mannino concluded.