Pope Leo XIV draws more than a million faithful to Madrid in historic Spanish visit

The scale of the welcome quickly became the dominant image of the visit. Organizers of the large-scale event said approximately 1.2 million people gathered in central Madrid on the morning of the second day, lining the streets around the Cibeles Square and the surrounding avenues for a Mass and Corpus Christi procession. Tens of thousands more had greeted the Pope on his arrival the previous day, and Spanish authorities estimated attendance at a Saturday evening youth vigil at around 500,000, while organizers put the figure at 600,000.

Crowds line Madrid's streets

At the Saturday evening event on Plaza de Lima, the Pope addressed roughly half a million mostly young people, calling on them to be bearers of hope against war and lies. Spanish authorities deployed more than 14,000 police officers in Madrid alone to secure the visit. The papal trip carries the motto 'Lift up your gaze' (Erhebt den Blick), a phrase that has framed the messaging of each successive event.

In a speech at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Pope Leo XIV thanked Spain for its fidelity to international law and to multilateralism, praising what he called the country's 'commitment to peace and solidarity between peoples.' He told state representatives, civil society, and foreign diplomats that the message of peace unfortunately sounds naive to some and provocative to others in these times, and urged Spaniards to advance the process of European unification as 'a gift to the whole human family' rather than in opposition to other powers.

A call against polarization

The Pope also used the Royal Palace address to issue a broad warning against polarization. He said there is a growing temptation today to gain popularity by fueling polarization, and that the 'flames of polarization' must not be stoked. In the age of new technologies such as social media platforms and artificial intelligence, he argued, human dignity is violated and prejudices are intensified, while critical thinking is weakened. He called on Europe to counter these trends through free and high-quality education, culture, and investment in schools, universities, research, and civil society.

Europe, identity, and complexity

Turning to Spanish and European identity, the Pope invoked the historical presence of Islam on the Iberian Peninsula and the centuries of dialogue between Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Without naming Basques and Catalans directly, he called for reconciling demands for autonomy and unity. He suggested that valuing and exploring complexity could be a special vocation for Europe, and said the continent's gift to the world is the ability to appreciate that complexity rather than to escape into 'identitarian approaches that seem to explain everything but populate the world with ghosts and enemies.'

The abuse crisis within the Catholic Church cast a long shadow over the visit. Speaking to journalists on the outbound flight, Pope Leo described the abuse scandal as a still 'open wound' of the Catholic Church. In his welcoming address, King Felipe VI acknowledged the pain caused by abuse cases and said reparation was indispensable for the victims, praising the Pope's 'clarity and determination' on the issue. The Vatican announced that the pontiff will meet with victims of sexual abuse in Catholic institutions during his stay, a meeting that victim associations had demanded.

The abuse crisis in focus

The scale of that demand is sobering. An investigative commission put the number of abuse victims in Spain since 1940 at more than 200,000. In March, Spain's left-leaning government and the Catholic Church concluded an agreement on compensating victims of sexual abuse after years of negotiations. After the reception at the Royal Palace, the Pope planned to visit a homeless shelter in Madrid, continuing what Spanish organisers described as a deliberately outward-facing itinerary.

Sunday's Mass in front of Madrid's City Hall drew the Spanish royal family, with around one million visitors expected, according to advance estimates, and was followed by a prayer vigil planned for the evening in front of Real Madrid's Bernabéu Stadium. Pope Leo, who is 70, speaks fluent Spanish, having worked for many years in Peru as a missionary and bishop. On the flight to Spain he signed autographs for journalists, including a baseball, and joked that many people would choose to see U.S. singer Bad Bunny over the Pope, as Bad Bunny was giving several concerts in Madrid at the same time.

The Pope's remarks on young people carried particular weight. He said that many young people today feel 'an emptiness and a lack of meaning,' and framed the Church as ready to serve the future of a people seeking reconciliation and peace. Spain's Catholic Church has expressed hope that the papal visit will lead more people back to the faith, a hope that takes on added significance against the backdrop of sharply declining religious identification at home.

A changing Spain

According to a survey, 53 percent of Spaniards identify as Catholic, roughly twenty percentage points less than fifteen years ago, and only 16 percent consider themselves practicing Catholics. Spain was traditionally a bastion of Catholicism in Europe, and the Catholic Church stood on the side of coup leader and later dictator Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939, paying a high death toll in the conflict. The Pope's call to 'leave behind divisive and polarizing depictions of social reality and history in the name of truth' was read by some observers as a quiet appeal to confront that past.

The political backdrop to the visit has been complicated by international controversy. In an Easter message, the Pope, who is originally from Chicago, said Christians cannot stand alongside those who 'drop bombs today.' U.S. President Donald Trump called the Pope 'weak' and 'terrible on foreign policy' in response, accusing him of siding with a country that 'wants an atomic weapon.' Trump had earlier responded to the Pope's May criticism of the Iran war with angry attacks and the publication of a painting of himself as Jesus. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has separately drawn Trump's criticism by prohibiting the U.S. military from using bases in Spain for the attacks, and has repeatedly called Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip a 'genocide.'

Ahead: Barcelona and the Canaries

The itinerary continues later in the week with two high-profile stops. On Wednesday, marking the 100th anniversary of the death of architect Antoni Gaudí, the Pope is scheduled to bless the Jesus Tower of the Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona. On Monday, he is to address the Spanish Parliament, becoming the first Pope to speak before both chambers of the Spanish legislature. The visit will then conclude on the Canary Islands, where two meetings with African migrants are planned.

The choice of the Canary Islands carries its own symbolism. The archipelago is a hotspot for refugees attempting to reach Europe by sea, with tens of thousands of refugees currently on the islands and thousands dying each year in the attempt. Pope Leo has framed migration as a moral question throughout his papacy, and his meetings there are expected to focus on the human cost of the Atlantic crossing.

The visit comes against a longer arc of declining religious practice in Spain and a Catholic Church still working through the legacy of abuse. The combination of large crowds, pointed political language, and a deliberate programme of meetings with abuse survivors and migrants has given the trip a markedly public-facing character, in keeping with the motto 'Lift up your gaze.' The next test of the visit's political weight will come on Monday in the Spanish Parliament, where Pope Leo XIV is set to become the first pontiff to address both chambers.