Pope Leo XIV begins this week the first papal apostolic visit to Spain in fifteen years

Eduardo González This coming Saturday, June 6, the long-awaited apostolic journey of Pope Leo XIV to Spain will begin. Despite Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's attempts to distance it from the intense political polarization in Spain, the visit will undoubtedly highlight the current "harmony" between the Holy See and the Spanish government on issues such as war, artificial intelligence, and migration. The visit, which will take place from June 6 to 12 in Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands, is the first papal visit to Spain in fifteen years. The previous visit was in 2011, when Benedict XVI attended World Youth Day. In this case, the apostolic journey is in response to an official invitation from King Felipe VI and the Spanish Episcopal Conference. The Pope will arrive on Saturday at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, where he will be received by the King and Queen and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. His agenda will begin that same day with a welcome ceremony at the Royal Palace of Madrid and a courtesy visit to King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. The Pontiff already received the King and Queen in audience on March 20th at the Vatican. Separately, King Felipe and Queen Letizia met Pope Leo XIV for the first time in May 2015, after the Mass inaugurating his pontificate. Later, the Pope will hold a meeting with authorities, civil society, and the diplomatic corps at the Royal Palace of Madrid and will then travel to the Lucero neighborhood, a suburb of the city, to meet with workers and people served by the CEDIA 24 Horas social project, a center run by Caritas Madrid for the homeless. The first day will conclude with a prayer vigil with young people in Plaza de Lima. On Sunday, the Pope will celebrate Holy Mass in the Plaza de Cibeles and hold a private meeting with members of the Order of Saint Augustine (a regular event on his trips). Later that afternoon, at the Movistar Arena, the Pope will participate in an event entitled “Connections with the World of Culture, Art, Business, and Sports.” The day will conclude with dinner at the residence of the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid. Pedro Sánchez and Congress Monday will be the most politically significant day in Madrid, as it will include a meeting with the Prime Minister at the Apostolic Nunciature and attendance at an event in the Congress of Deputies, which will also be attended by members of the Government, including Sánchez himself. The Pope received Pedro Sánchez in audience on May 27 and, two days earlier, published his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” on the social doctrine of the Church “in the age of artificial intelligence,” in which he warned that “technology must not be concentrated in the hands of a few,” rejected increased military spending as the “only answer” to an “uncertain future,” defended the rights of migrants and the analysis of “the root causes” of migration, and called for “an examination of conscience” within the Church on behalf of “victims of abuse.” In the press conference following the audience, the Prime Minister acknowledged that both their meeting and the encyclical demonstrated a “harmony” between the two leaders on issues such as war, artificial intelligence, and migration. However, he asserted that the government has no intention of gaining political advantage from the apostolic visit because “the figure of His Holiness and what he represents for the Catholic community transcends political debate in Spain.” The visit also comes after the signing of five agreements between Spain and the Vatican since Sánchez's last visit to a Pope, in this case Francis, in October 2024. These agreements, highly satisfactory for the Government, concern the exhumation of dictator Francisco Franco, the repurposing of the Valley of the Fallen as Cuelgamuros, the recognition by the Episcopal Conference of a thousand registered properties whose ownership does not belong to the Church, the elimination of two tax exemptions that exclusively benefited the Church, and reparations for victims of sexual abuse within the clergy. Furthermore, sources at Moncloa Palace have also noted that the Vatican is a true global “diplomatic power,” with its 122 nunciatures, which allows it to actively participate in numerous mediation and peace processes in many countries and conflicts. The rest of the day will include a meeting with the bishops of Spain at the headquarters of the Episcopal Conference, a lunch with the bishops at the Apostolic Nunciature, a prayer service and homage to Our Lady of Almudena at Madrid Cathedral, and a meeting with the Diocesan Community at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Barcelona The Pope will then travel to Barcelona, where on Tuesday he will participate in a prayer service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia and preside over a prayer vigil at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. The following day, he will visit Brians 1 Prison and pray the Rosary at the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, a Benedictine monastery about 50 kilometers from Barcelona that houses the statue of Our Lady of Montserrat, also known as "La Morenita," proclaimed patron saint of Catalonia in 1881 by Pope Leo XII. The most significant event in Barcelona will be his attendance at the inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ, the tallest tower of the Sagrada Familia Basilica, characterized by its dodecagonal shape and a total height of 172.5 meters. The event will coincide with the centenary of the death of the temple's architect, Antoni Gaudí, "the architect of God," declared Venerable in April of last year and currently undergoing the process of beatification. The Pope will also meet with Pedro Sánchez at this event. Canary Islands The most significant stage of the pastoral visit, due to its clear focus on migration, will take place on May 11 and 12 in the Canary Islands. In October 2024, Pedro Sánchez invited Pope Francis to visit the Canary Islands in 2025 to “learn about the reality of the Canarian people” in light of the influx of migrants. The Pope himself later confessed his desire to travel to the Canary Islands, but was never able to do so due to his death. On May 11, Leo XIV will meet in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with organizations working to welcome migrants at the port of Argüineguín, the arrival point for thousands of people in recent years. Following this, he will meet with bishops, priests, religious, seminarians, and pastoral agents, and will celebrate Mass at the Gran Canaria Stadium. On May 12, the final day of his visit, the Pope will travel to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where he will meet with migrants at the Las Raíces reception center and with representatives from migrant integration centers in Plaza del Cristo in La Laguna. The day will conclude with a Holy Mass at the port of Santa Cruz and a farewell ceremony at Los Rodeos Airport, from where he will depart for Rome. The migration component of this final leg of the trip has been particularly valued by the Spanish government. In this regard, sources at Moncloa Palace have emphasized that the Pope's position, and that of the Church in general (in fact, the Spanish Episcopal Conference has supported the regularization process approved by the government), aligns with the Spanish government's stance in favor of an open and welcoming Europe.

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