In the video, the pontiff said he intends to visit the island. Pope Leo XIV used Sicilian dialect to greet and say "thank you" -- "O'scià" - to the residents of Lampedusa for always welcoming migrants who reach the coasts of the stepping stone island, which is closer to Africa than to Italy, in a video message released on September 12.

The pontiff virtually embraced the Sicilian island in the video to present the candidature for UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage as part of the project 'Gestures of Hospitality.'

Recalling the first visit to Lampedusa undertaken by the late pope Francis in 2013, the current pontiff announced that his greetings were virtual but he hoped to visit the island in person too soon.

Leo renews pope Francis's thanks to Sicilian island

Lampedusa Mayor Filippo Mannino called the pontiff's video a "surprise" as it expressed between the lines the announcement, or at least the desire, to visit the Sicilian island.

The message, registered at the Vatican, was first of all aimed at thanking residents as well as at highlighting the "unfair measures" that often affect migrants.

Pope Leo thanked Lampedusa residents for their "testimony" on behalf of the entire Church, "prolonging and renewing" pope Francis's thanks.

"Thanks to the associations, volunteers, mayors and administrations that have succeeded one another over time; priests, doctors, security forces and all those who, often invisibly, have shown and show a smile and the attention of a human face to the people who have survived a desperate journey of hope," the pontiff added.

'There is no justice without compassion'

"You are the stronghold of that humanity that screamed explanations, atavistic fears and unfair measures intended to crack," stressed the Pope. He added that "there is no justice without compassion, there is no legitimacy without listening to the suffering of others."

Pope Leo XIV also recalled the "many victims -- including so many mothers and so many children! -- who are crying out not only to the sky but to our hearts from the depth of Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea in Latin), the Mediterranean. "Many brothers and sisters are buried on Lampedusa and rest in the land like seeds from which a new world wants to sprout."

The pontiff also stressed that light is coming from the Sicilian island because of the "thousands of faces and names of people who are living a better life today and will never forget your charity. Many of them have in turn become operators of justice and peace because goodness is contagious."

Pope Leo, following in the previous pontiff's footsteps after he dedicated a good part of his pontificate to migrants with messages, apostolic visits, appeals and meetings at his residence at Santa Marta, asked to oppose the "globalization of indifference" with a "culture of encounter". Pope Leo ended his message repeating "O'scià", "my breath", a greeting in Sicilian dialog that has come to symbolize the island.