Pope Urges Leaders to Ease Divisions at Start of Spain Visit

AP

Pope Leo XIV is welcomed by Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.

Pope Leo on Saturday urged global leaders to avoid dividing their electorates with "sterile simplifications" to gain popularity and called on them to listen to the world's cries for peace, in a forceful speech opening a week-long tour of Spain.

"Today, the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarization seems to have grown rather than diminished, and human dignity continues to be violated," Pope Leo said in a speech before King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace in Madrid.

"I invite everyone to set aside the divisive and polarising narratives of your societal reality and history, so as to overcome sterile simplifications through the fruitful appreciation of complexity," he added.

Technology was partly to blame for creating an environment which magnifies prejudices and weakens critical thinking, Pope Leo said. The world was crying "from its depths for peace," he said.

He drew on Spain's history as an example ⁠of peaceful co-habitation between religions and cultures, making reference to how Christians, Muslims and Jews cooperated during medieval times to enhance human knowledge by translating Arabic texts into Latin, Spanish and Hebrew at the School of Translators in Toledo.

"Your own history suggests that a culture of encounter, not confrontation, is what fosters stability and prosperity. In reality, the message of peace, which at present unfortunately strikes some as naïve and others as confrontational, is welcomed by those who do not shut themselves off in preconceived ideologies, but are rather open to the truth," he said.

Thousands lined the streets of central Madrid, some waving Vatican and Spanish flags under clear spring skies, as Leo toured in an open-air popemobile. Huge gatherings are expected in the coming days for the first visit to Spain by a pope since 2011.

The pope's visit coincides with 10 days of concerts by Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, and local church officials have indicated a meeting between the two is possible, but not confirmed, while the pope is in Madrid.

Bad Bunny will perform on Saturday at football club Atletico Madrid's Metropolitano stadium. The pope will meet young people in the square outside the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, home to bitter rival Real Madrid.

A 2025 survey by Fundacion SM found there has been a surge in interest in Catholicism by young people ‌in Spain, with ⁠28.8% declaring themselves practicing Catholics in 2025 compared to 17.6% in 2020.

Pope Leo joked on his flight from Rome that he was competing with Bad Bunny for young people's attention.

"If they were confronted with the question: do they want to see Bad Bunny or do they want to see the pope, I think many will go to see Bad Bunny," he said, before adding: "But I think there will also be a few here to see the pope."

Pope Leo, who has adopted a more assertive tone against the direction of global leadership in recent months, is scheduled to give more than 20 speeches during his first trip to a European Union country outside Italy, and will be the first pope to address the ⁠Spanish parliament.

He spent decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru before becoming pope last May, and will speak Spanish throughout most of the trip. 

In a speech welcoming Pope Leo to Spain, King Felipe acknowledged the pain caused by the cases of abuse and said the pope's "clarity and firmness" were "essential in the process of healing and reparation for the harm inflicted."

Source: Reuters



PUKMEDIA