Abstract
In July 2013, the recently elected Pope Francis chose Lampedusa for his first pastoral visit. A tiny island, part of the Sicilian region yet closer to Tunisia than to Italy, Lampedusa has at times become hyper-visible in the media and national discourses surrounding immigration while at other times it is ignored — part of Italy’s geographic and social margins. I trace stories of migration to Lampedusa through the objects and speech employed by Pope Francis. I examine the once discarded wooden migrant boats and their transformation into visible representations of migration. During the papal Mass, these sacred, liturgical objects born from trash became part of Pope Francis’ visual challenge to the invisibility of migrant deaths. I explore the genealogies of the liturgical objects used at Mass, specifically the altar, chalice, ambo, and ferula, to understand how discourses of migration and religion intersect to challenge Italian state practices of migration management.
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