Leo XIV will visit the Brians 1 prison in Sant Esteve Sesrovires on the same day he will go to the Montserrat abbey and bless and inaugurate the Jesus tower of the Sagrada Família, on June 10. This is the penitentiary center that concentrates people from the Barcelona area who are in preventive detention, awaiting trial. Specifically, there will be a meeting with the women of one of the modules, and this event will take place after the recent visit to the Bata prison during the Pope’s trip to Equatorial Guinea just a few weeks ago.
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It is a stop on the Pope’s journey in Catalonia that had been kept low-key and was revealed this Wednesday when the Vatican unveiled the official program, the public agenda in Spain between June 6 and 12. What remains under wraps are the private meetings that the leader of the Catholic Church may hold during those days and which usually become known once the trip has ended, if that is the Holy See’s will.
It was the bishop of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Xabier Gómez, who made the request to the Holy See to travel to the penitentiary center. “It is the world of pain, of deprivation of liberty, something very present in the Church,” explained the archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Juan José Omella, this Wednesday during a press conference in Madrid, at the headquarters of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), along with the other bishops who will host the Pope in their dioceses next month – the archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo, the bishop of the Canary Islands, José Mazuelos, and the bishop of Tenerife, Eloy Santiago – and the president of the CEE, the archbishop of Valladolid, Luis Argüello.
Likewise, Cardinal Omella referred to divisions within the Church but tried to emphasize the idea of unity that Leo XIV himself champions and tries to project from the very moment he was elected, a year ago. “Some of one tendency, others of another,” but “all around Jesus Christ and the vicar who is the Pope,” Omella stated. “He doesn’t speak much, but what he throws are darts. The Pope has the wisdom of Saint Augustine, he disarms you with three words,” he added later about the Pontiff.
Thus, on June 10, the bishop of Rome will have a tight and intense schedule in Catalonia, since beyond the visit to the prison, and the events in Montserrat and in the basilica of the Catalan capital on the centenary of Antoni Gaudí’s death, there will also be an event in the afternoon at the parish of Sant Agustí, in the Raval neighborhood, where the Augustinians are incardinated. At that moment, he will be able to learn about various social projects and the diocesan reality. The day before, there will be a large gathering in the afternoon at the Lluís Companys stadium, in Montjuïc.
The Royal House, present at the three venues
Leo XIV will be received by the Kings of Spain shortly after arriving in Spain on June 6, and his first events will be at the Royal Palace. In addition, King Felipe and Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor, and Infanta Sofía will attend the Corpus Mass to be held on Sunday the 7th in the Cibeles square. Likewise, on Monday the 8th, Queen Sofía will attend the Almudena Cathedral. In Barcelona, on June 10, the Kings will be present at the blessing and inauguration of the Jesus tower in the Sagrada Família basilica, and in Tenerife, on June 12, Queen Sofía will again be present at the Pontiff’s farewell.
The first Pope to address the General Courts
Also, it was confirmed today that on June 8, at a time when Robert Prevost has become a counterweight to Donald Trump in the international and geopolitical sphere due to his position against the war, Leo XIV will address the General Courts in a joint session at the Congress of Deputies. This will thus be the first Pope to make use of a prerogative reserved for heads of state. The last to do so were the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro (2023), and the Ukrainian one, through media, Volodymyr Zelensky (2022).
Regarding the possible manipulation of the Pope’s speech in the General Courts or any other event at a time of political tension in Spain, the president of the CEE highlighted that the invitation extended to the Holy See from the Board of the Congress and the Senate had unanimous support in both chambers, although not all parties are represented in that governing body.
In fact, Vox, which maintains a confrontation with the Church over the migration issue, is not part of the Board in either institution. For Argüello, at a time of “crisis of liberal democracy,” “the presence of someone coming from outside who brings a word with ethical and spiritual reference” is valuable, even without knowing what Prevost will say that day. Pedro Sánchez’s government, in turn, highlights the coincidence in the no to war with the Pontiff, although on other issues such as abortion or euthanasia the positions are antagonistic. For all these reasons, that day it will be relevant to take attendance and see if there are any notable absences.
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The institutional agenda in Madrid
In Madrid, beyond the two large celebrations that had been planned and announced, the one on Saturday, June 6 with young people in Lima square at night, and the one on Sunday, when the Pope will preside over the Corpus Mass in Cibeles square, there will be a meeting with the diocesan Church of the Community of Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium on Monday night, where John Paul II was also in 1982.
In addition, a meeting with the Augustinians in Madrid, at the nunciature headquarters, and a meeting with people from the world of culture, art, economy, and sports at the Movistar Arena pavilion have also been planned.
On Saturday morning, the day Leo XIV arrives in Spain, after an institutional reception at the airport, as usual, by the authorities – where the first “elbows” between institutions to appear alongside the Pope will be seen – Prevost will go to the Royal Palace to meet the Kings, who were at the Holy See a few weeks ago. A meeting with diplomats, authorities, and the Government at the same Royal Palace is also scheduled that day. The Pontiff’s first act on Spanish soil, aside from the protocol acts as head of state, will be a visit to a Caritas social project, Cedia 24 hours.
Also, the meeting with the president will be on Monday morning, just before going to Congress, at the nunciature headquarters instead of Moncloa.
The last two days of the trip will revolve around the migration issue, with an unprecedented visit of a pope to the Canary archipelago. In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the first event will be with organizations working with migrants at the port of Arguineguín, and there will be a mass in the afternoon at the La Palmas stadium. The last day of the trip will be in Tenerife, where there will be a meeting with migrants from the Las Raíces center and a mass at noon at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, among other events.
The beatification process of Gaudí and the choice of Montjuïc
During his speech, Omella spoke about the beatification process of the architect of the Sagrada Família. “What I would want most is for Antoni Gaudí to be proclaimed blessed and saint, because he really is an impressive person!” exclaimed the cardinal. “They are studying the miracle in Rome, the study is at a very advanced stage, but there is nothing more. While the process is ongoing, whether the Pope comes or not, we cannot skip it,” added the prelate.
Regarding the event to be held at the Lluís Companys stadium on Tuesday, June 9, Jesuit Enric Puig, who coordinates the visit and did the same in 2010 when Benedict XVI came to Barcelona, revealed that they tried to do it at Camp Nou, but due to stadium works, the schedule could not be arranged. The Pope’s presence implied 15 days of preparation before and another 15 after to resume the works. In total, it meant stopping the works for a month. “Accommodating it for the visit meant suspending the works and it had to be discarded because despite the club’s good disposition, they could not interrupt the works so much,” Puig explained.
The Catalan bishops join Leo XIV’s outcry against war
The bishops of the Tarraconense Episcopal Conference, which groups the ten Catalan dioceses, have joined in a letter the outcry of Pope Leo XIV against war.
“The prophetic voice of the Pope is an expression of his duty, as a messenger to announce the Gospel of peace throughout the world. We invite you to join the Pope’s outcry in favor of peace,” the Catalan prelates point out in a joint letter, in which they highlight that “accompanying him” during the June visit is “an expression of peace and hope in a new world.” They also add a quote from him from a celebration on April 11: “Enough of idolatry of the self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of wars!”.
“With the words he will surely address to us, we will be invited not to settle for injustices or suffering. We cannot turn our backs in any way on the most needy, the most wounded, and the poorest,” they point out in another fragment of the letter.
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