Pope Leo XIV’s highly-anticipated trip to Spain will end a 15-year wait for Spanish Catholics who have not received a papal visit since Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Madrid for World Youth Day in 2011.
But Leo’s June 6-12 visit will show how he speaks on key issues that reverberate far beyond the Iberian peninsula.
With stops in Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, the pope is dedicating an unusually long time to his visit to Spain. His scheduled trip to France Sept. 25-28 is only four days.
While Spain is familiar ground for Leo, who traveled there frequently as head of the Augustinian order, as pope his visit will bring him into one of Europe’s most charged political landscapes, where a fragile Socialist-led government faces a surging far right that has turned anti-immigration rhetoric to its rallying cry.
In Madrid, the pope will make history becoming the first leader of the Catholic Church to address Spain’s parliament; he is expected to speak on unity in one of Europe’s most politically polarized nations. The pope will meet with migrants and organizations supporting them in the Canary Islands — a destination for migrants seeking to make the perilous ocean journey from the shores of North Africa to Europe. In Barcelona he will celebrate Mass at the Sagrada Família, the basilica designed by Antoni Gaudí and now crowned by its newly completed Tower of Jesus Christ.
To continue reading this article, click here.
With thanks to National Catholic Reporter and Justin McLellan, where this article originally appeared.
