Pope Leo continued his Spanish tour on Tuesday, departing Madrid for Barcelona as part of a week-long journey where he has cautioned that growing conflicts worldwide have created a serious global crisis.
The pontiff, who has recently taken a stronger stance regarding international leadership, addressed Spain’s parliament on Monday, stating that any nation’s “moral greatness” is measured by its treatment of migrants and other at-risk groups.
During his departure remarks from Madrid on Tuesday, the first U.S. pope encouraged local Catholics to practice selflessness and assist those requiring help.
“In a world that is constantly influenced by a logic of self-interest and profit … it is important to think and live according to a more authentic mentality,” he said.
Following approximately one hour of flight time, Pope Leo was scheduled to arrive in Barcelona, where he planned to meet with the leader of Catalonia’s northeastern region and participate in a prayer vigil with youth at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium.
Wednesday marks the highlight of the pope’s Barcelona visit, featuring a trip to a Montserrat abbey and the dedication of the newest tower at the Sagrada Familia, the modernist basilica now recognized as the world’s tallest church.
The basilica visit will also honor architect Antoni Gaudí’s contributions, whose work faced ridicule during his era but now receives widespread acclaim. The devout Catholic, who passed away on June 10, 1926, is currently being considered for Catholic sainthood.
Some abuse survivors have criticized the pope’s planned abbey visit in Montserrat, despite his Monday meeting with six victims of clerical sexual abuse in Spain.
A 2023 report from Spain’s human rights ombudsman, which included the abbey, estimated hundreds of thousands of victims suffered abuse by Spanish clergy across multiple decades. The Montserrat abbot issued a public apology in 2019 to victims of sexual abuse at the abbey’s school.
The papal visit will conclude Friday in the Canary Islands, a Spanish island chain near western Africa, where Pope Leo will meet approximately 1,000 migrants who made perilous Atlantic crossings in small boats to reach Europe.
During Monday’s parliamentary address, the pope declared that insufficient assistance for global migrants threatens “the ethical foundation of the international order.”
