By Junno Arocho Esteves and Paulina Guzik, OSV News
With the Vatican confirming Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Spain in June, plans for the upcoming visit are full steam ahead, the organizer of the visit said.
Speaking to OSV News Feb. 25, Yago de La Cierva, who was appointed by the Spanish bishops’ conference as the general coordinator of the visit, said he is hopeful that, like past papal visits, Pope Leo will come with a powerful message that “will be a revival” for the people of Spain.
“I would say the real effects of any papal visit can be measured in a spiritual change, in a spiritual revival, in people, in individuals, in families, in communities, in cities,” he said. “This is our hope, and we are working hard so that this visit is not just superficial, but that it goes deep into the souls of many people.”
The pope’s visit, he added, would also serve as an “important push to recover our identity as a welcoming society that is (concerned) for the underprivileged and those who are vulnerable.”
Acknowledging that the country faces political, economic and social tensions, de La Cierva said many hope the pope will help heal divisions and encourage unity.
“We really, really hope that the pope can give us not only guidance and suggestions to improve the situation, but also to put like a balsamic oil on many wounds and will be able to tell all Spaniards, ‘Hey, you can do better. You can work together even if you don’t think in the same way.'”
In a statement published Feb. 25, the Vatican press office also confirmed several other papal visits, including Monaco, Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
Logistical Challenges
Although Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the program of the June 6-12 trip “will be announced in due course,” the destination cities — Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands — were first confirmed in January by Cardinal José Cobo of Madrid, who, along with a delegation of Spanish bishops, met with the Secretariat of State to discuss initial plans for the visit.
The last time a pope visited Spain was in 2011, when Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Madrid for World Youth Day, where he presided over the final Mass attended by over a million young people.
De La Cierva noted that the preparation period for Pope Leo’s visit is dramatically shorter, at just over three months.
“The main difficulty is that for World Youth Day, normally you have two years to prepare for the trip. And this time, we are 101 days ahead, which (means) that everything is much more complicated,” he said.
Despite the logistical hurdles, de La Cierva praised the cooperation from public officials.
“After contacting the local authorities, the mayor … of the Madrid community, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it has been a full collaboration,” he told OSV News, expressing hope that the visit “will also be a manifestation of teamwork.”
Madrid, he said, is expected to draw Catholics from across Spain because of its accessibility and central location.
“We told every diocese in the country that they are welcome to come,” de La Cierva said. While travel to the Canary Islands or Barcelona may prove more difficult, “I think Madrid will be a place in which many people from around the country will come and will attend the events.”
“It would be a really, really joyful gathering,” he added.
Initially the iconic Bernabeu soccer stadium was supposed to be a venue for youth vigil, but organizers say its 85,000 capacity is too small for the estimated 300,000 young people expected as they’re working with local authorities to find a bigger space. Bernabeu may be used for another papal event however, OSV News was told.
De La Cierva confirmed to OSV News that a Vatican delegation will arrive in Madrid March 2 and visit “places in which the local bishops have asked the pope to meet people.”
The delegation will then head to Las Palmas and Tenerife on the Canary Islands, before finally visiting Barcelona. The pope is expected to mark the June 10 centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí — the legendary architect of one of the world’s most iconic churches, the Basilica of the Holy Family in Barcelona, known in Spanish as Sagrada Familia.
A historic moment
The upper arm of the cross atop the tower of Jesus Christ was installed Feb. 20. At over 564 feet in height, the tower makes the basilica the tallest Catholic church in the world, surpassing the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, which stands at 518 feet.
It also surpasses the Ulmer Münster Lutheran Church in Germany, which stands at 530 feet, making it the tallest church of any denomination in the world.
Construction of the basilica began in 1882, and it is considered a masterpiece of Gaudí, a Catholic whose cause for sainthood is underway.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, the basilica faced numerous delays and challenges in its over 140-year construction, including the Spanish Civil War and the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the main building is expected to be completed in 2026, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death, work on statues and other areas of the basilica is expected to continue until 2034.
De La Cierva told OSV News Pope Leo’s presence would be a key event that represents a full-circle moment.
“I think that would be one of the main events of the trip to Spain because the altar was blessed by Pope Benedict XIV in 2010. And this is like the close of the circle with this magnificent basilica,” he said.
In Pope Francis’ footsteps
Another full-circle moment, according to de La Cierva, would be Pope Leo’s visit to the Canary Islands, a trip his predecessor, Pope Francis, had wanted to make.
The archipelago, which is geographically in Africa, is the destination each year for thousands of sub-Saharan migrants seeking a better future. They arrive in poor and fragile boats called “callucos,” and many die in transit.
Pope Leo, he said, is continuing “the legacy of Pope Francis,” who he said had “expressed his wish to go there because it has been the center of an important element in immigration.”
“I think Pope Leo is trying to continue the path of Pope Francis when he made his historical trip to Lampedusa,” de La Cierva said.
“And this is probably his intention of putting in front of Europe the need to be a welcoming society and accepting people as human beings and not as a threat. That we have to deal with each one of them as a person, not as a menace,” he said.
“I think this is why the pope is visiting the Canary Islands for the first time in history,” he said, adding “everybody” in Spain is “so happy” with the trip.
“We were hoping for a papal visit for 15 years. And for a Catholic country it is a lot,” he said, emphasizing that many generous donors are willing to support the trip, fully financed by “the Church, faithful and people of goodwill.”
St. John Paul II visited Spain five times, including the iconic 1989 Santiago de Compostela World Youth Day, with Pope Benedict returning twice — in 2010, and 2011 — for World Youth Day in Madrid.
Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist. Paulina Guzik is international editor for OSV News.