By The pontiff reflected on his recent apostolic journey to Spain during his general audience on June 17.
Pope Leo XIV dedicated his general audience on June 17 to reflecting on his apostolic journey to Spain the previous week, during which he visited Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands.
In his remarks, the pope praised Spainʼs “very rich Catholic tradition” and highlighted the countryʼs “joyful expression of their faith” as well as the affection shown to him by the people.
“In the case of Spain, I was able to observe with joy how much people of every age and situation were looking forward to the pope’s visit: Everywhere I found multitudes who welcomed me with great warmth,” Leo remarked, acknowledging that this was not something to be taken for granted.
Safeguarding encounter between Catholic tradition, contemporary culture
Referring to the events in Madrid and Barcelona during his trip to Spain, the pope also described his trip as an “encounter of ancient and modern, Catholic tradition and contemporary culture,” allowing him to experience “the very character of Europe, its inestimable wealth, as a living reality, not a thing of the past.”
Leo also said that Europeʼs cultural heritage must be preserved to address ongoing challenges.
“It is a heritage to be safeguarded with care, so that it may be invested in today’s global world with its momentous challenges: peace, integral ecology, equitable and sustainable development, and respect for human dignity,” Leo said.
Care for migrants
Referring to the final stage of the journey at the Canary Islands, where Leo met a large number of African migrants, the pope acknowledged that the migration phenomenon “is complex and requires organic and coordinated action plans.”
The pontiff noted, however, that this reality also offers an interpretation that “opens up a different, broader perspective,” allowing Catholics to understand how “to reread the Gospel in today’s world, exchanging with each other the gifts of our respective cultures, and in particular the results produced in them by the fruitfulness of Christ’s message.”
Among these results, he highlighted “dialogue between people and between peoples, the encounter in a spirit of fraternity, which enables us to discover and appreciate one another’s values.” He cautioned that this path is not easy and that asking for God’s help is essential to achieving a “civilization of love.”
Praise for U.S.-Iran peace deal
Leo concluded his remarks by expressing his satisfaction with the peace agreement between the United States and Iran, to be signed on June 19, which will bring an end to prolonged hostilities.
He also renewed his appeal for peace in Ukraine, acknowledging with concern the casualties suffered in the Russo-Ukrainian war. He invited all to “ask the Lord to open pathways to dialogue, to extinguish hatred, and to make a just and lasting peace possible.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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If Spain, with a socialist government, abortion written as a right in its Spanish Constitutional Court ruling in 2023 that abortion is a fundamental right tied to physical and moral integrity – and among the world’s strongest supporters of LGBT – is a favorable example of unity with diversity as held in Leo XIV’s public statement, we are in deep trouble as a Church.
This statement by the Pope is a dire warning for what may be ahead. Gird your loins and prepare for adversity rather than diversity.
Indeed. So in contrast to model Spain, the SSPX is not an example of unity within diversity but must be punished and denied communion. The difference must be that Spain has a socialist government. Socialism good, SSPX bad. And that the socialists are legitimizing close to a million illegals, mostly from a religion which is not Roman Catholicism. A religion which is the fastest growing one in the world. The warriors of Navas de Tolosa, and the warriors of Lepanto are forgotten bya Pope who knows so much about Spain, as the news tell us..
I really do like Pope Leo personally. He is a good man and a sincere Catholic trying to do his best as the Vicar of Christ according to his own lights. His political views, unfortunately, are mostly cliche-ridden nonsense not at all moored in reality. The claim that Spain’s militant socialist government and the conservative half of Spanish society it is at war with are unified is simply laughable. I wonder if his Holiness would have offered such feel-good banalities in the 1930s.
I’d also love to hear Pope Leo explain how Spain should go about preserving its cultural heritage with the millions of African and Arab immigrants inundating it. I can only imagine what the military-age young African men on Canary Island thought of all the blather from the pontiff, if they were paying attention at all. My guess is their minds were more preoccupied with how they were going to go on welfare, and steal, rape and riot once they make it to the mainland.