{"id":132060,"date":"2026-06-06T06:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T12:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-pope-is-in-secularized-polarized-spain-where-the-catholic-church-has-a-complex-legacy\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T07:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T13:30:22","slug":"leo-xiv-urges-spain-to-stop-fanning-flames-of-polarization-on-first-papal-visit-in-15-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/leo-xiv-urges-spain-to-stop-fanning-flames-of-polarization-on-first-papal-visit-in-15-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Leo XIV urges Spain to stop fanning flames of polarization on first papal visit in 15 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pope
Pope Leo XIV is welcomed by Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, as he arrives at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Saturday, June 6, 2026, on the first day of his seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MADRID (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV<\/a> urged Spaniards on Saturday to stop \u201cfanning the flames of polarization\u201d as he arrived in Spain at a moment of political turmoil for the Socialist-led government<\/a> and a credibility crisis for the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

The American pope, who has Spanish ancestors, traveled to Spain dozens of times as a priest, but this is the first visit by a pope in 15 years. It signals Leo is returning papal attention to Europe\u2019s Christian roots after Pope Francis largely stayed away from the traditional centers of Christianity in favor of smaller Catholic communities farther away.<\/p>\n

Leo is seemingly keen to bring his message of peace, unity and human dignity to a continent sorely polarized over migration, Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine<\/a> and anxiety over artificial intelligence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pope opened his weeklong trip in Madrid, greeted at the airport by the country\u2019s Catholic monarchs, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez. He told reporters, while traveling, that he was particularly heartened by reports of a spiritual awakening among young people in the once-staunchly Catholic but now secularized country.<\/p>\n

During his welcome address, Leo appealed to Spaniards, especially political leaders, to put polemics aside and invest in educating young people to appreciate diversity and complexity rather than shunning them.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, 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,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n

He appealed to Spain\u2019s place at the heart of Christian Europe to serve as a model for the rest of the continent, while also recalling the country’s 800-year Moorish past, when cities like Toledo and C\u00f3rdoba became, he said, \u201ccenters of dialogue between languages, religions and knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the love of truth, I invite everyone to set aside the divisive and polarizing narratives of your societal reality and history,\u201d he said. Doing so will help Europe \u201covercome sterile simplifications through the fruitful appreciation of complexity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spaniards find themselves increasingly divided over issues including immigration, feminism and political corruption, while historically it was riven by territorial and independence movements.<\/p>\n

The Spanish Parliament prepares for its first-ever papal speech<\/strong><\/p>\n

The highlight of Leo\u2019s visit to Madrid will be his speech Monday to both chambers of the Spanish Parliament, the first by a pope. Such speeches are rare and often become one of the most important of a pontificate.<\/p>\n

But Leo will find a highly polarized legislature, with the ruling Socialist party hammered by a series of corruption scandals<\/a>. Conservative parties, including the Popular Party and far-right Vox, have called for S\u00e1nchez to step down before the 2027 elections and have roundly criticized his government\u2019s migration policies.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Socialist-led government has bucked a general trend in Europe and the United States by announcing it will grant legal status<\/a> to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants living and working in the country without authorization. S\u00e1nchez has highlighted the benefits of legal migration to the country\u2019s economy<\/a> with an aging workforce and low birthrate.<\/p>\n

Despite some expected protests of Leo\u2019s visit, his speech to Parliament in particular is something of a milestone for Spain\u2019s Catholic Church. Shaped by the anticlerical violence of the country\u2019s 1936-1939 civil war, more recently, it has dealt with a credibility crisis over revelations<\/a> of decades of clergy abuse and cover-up.<\/p>\n

While much of Europe has secularized in recent decades, Spain stands out after it underwent a religious crisis following the 1975 death of Gen. Francisco Franco. A staunch Catholic, Franco viewed his reign as something of a religious crusade against the anticlerical anarchist, leftist and secular tendencies in Spain.<\/p>\n

As Spain transitioned to a democracy, the percentage of Spaniards who declared themselves Catholics fell from 90% in the 1970s to just 55% in 2025, according to polling data collected by Spain\u2019s state opinion agency. Of that group, only 19% say they regularly attend Mass.<\/p>\n

And yet there are signs of renewed interest<\/a> in all forms of spirituality, Christian and otherwise, especially among young Spaniards, said sociologist Narciso Michavila N\u00fa\u00f1ez, president of the GAD3 consulting firm that polls young people about their faith, among other things.<\/p>\n

In recent surveys, he said, pollsters are registering newfound interest in faith among Gen Z Spaniards. Michavila and others cite the popularity of Spanish pop star Rosal\u00eda\u2019s<\/a> new hit album \u201cLux,\u201d which is overtly spiritual.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth from a common view is not that God is in fashion. What is new in this moment, in this visit of the pope, is that God in the Spanish society is not a tattoo anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leo\u2019s face has been plastered across subway cars, billboards and ads in metro stations in the Spanish capital, and souvenir shops are selling magnets of Leo and other papal knickknacks. Bakeries are selling limited-edition pope cakes and pastries.<\/p>\n

Leo pointed to the signs of a spiritual awakening in comments to reporters en route to Madrid. But he also acknowledged he is facing stiff competition from Bad Bunny<\/a>, who is holding two concerts this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they are confronted with the question \u2018Do you want to go see Bad Bunny or do you want to go to see the pope?\u2019 I think many will see Bad Bunny,\u201d Leo said. \u201cBut I think there will also be a few here to see the pope. And that says something, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope to meet with abuse victims and migrants<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a sign that the clergy sexual abuse crisis continues to overshadow papal trips, the Vatican confirmed late Friday that Leo would meet with survivors during his visit. The Spanish Catholic hierarchy is belatedly reckoning with decades of abuse<\/a> and cover-up in the once-staunchly Catholic country.<\/p>\n

Leo acknowledged he could only meet with a few, telling reporters that \u201cabuses are still an open wound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spain’s monarch also acknowledged the Spanish church\u2019s sexual abuse crisis, saying such cases \u201cneither are nor can be representative of the immense ecclesial community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour clarity and firmness, which I also wish to acknowledge, are essential in the process of healing and repairing the harm inflicted: they are essential for the victims, for the faithful, for the Church, and for society,\u201d Felipe told Leo, in an apparent reference to a recently launched Church-state reparations system for some victims of clerical abuse.<\/p>\n

After Madrid, the other highlights of the trip include Leo\u2019s visit midweek to Barcelona, where he will celebrate Mass in the Sagrada Familia basilica on the centenary of the death of its famed architect, Antoni Gaud\u00ed.<\/p>\n

Leo will also fulfill a wish of Francis by ending his visit with a two-day stop in the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago closer to Africa than the Iberian Peninsula and a key destination for migrants leaving West Africa.<\/p>\n

Leo will meet with migrants and the humanitarian organizations providing care for them. He is expected to toss a wreath of flowers into the sea, in memory of migrants killed during the treacherous Atlantic crossing. He\u2019ll do so from the port in Las Palmas that in 2020 earned the nickname the \u201cDock of Shame\u201d<\/a> because thousands of migrants were forced to sleep in the open for weeks on end during a spike in arrivals.<\/p>\n

Francis had made reaching out to migrants and refugees a hallmark of his papacy and Leo has followed suit by demanding dignified treatment of migrants, especially in his native U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those of us who are immigrants and find ourselves in this situation of having family far away, someone like the Pope \u2014 who is an important figure for the entire world \u2014 coming here is truly something that makes me say \u2018wow,\u2019\u201d said Constantina Nchama, an immigrant from Equatorial Guinea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that happens once in a lifetime,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m very, very excited about that, truly.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n

\"Pope
Pope Leo XIV is welcomed by Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia upon his arrival at Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas International Airport in Madrid, Saturday, June 6, 2026, marking the start of his seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pope
Pope Leo XIV arrives at Adolfo Suarez-Madrid Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, June 6, 2026, at the start of a seven-day pastoral visit to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo\/Manu Fernandez)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Manu Fernandez)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pope
Pope Leo XIV arrives at Madrid's Adolfo Suarez International Airport, Saturday, June 6, 2026, as he starts a seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pope
Pope Leo XIV is welcomed by Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, as he arrives at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Saturday, June 6, 2026, on the first day of his seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leo XIV is welcomed by Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, as he arrives at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Saturday, June 6, 2026, on the first day of his seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino) MADRID (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV urged Spaniards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-132060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132060"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132081,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132060\/revisions\/132081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132060"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=132060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}