The Pope has not come to Spain to play the violin. It will not be a trip with the taste of vanilla ice cream. The first day confirms this.
Read more Leo XIV leaves no one indifferent
Leo XIV is not a man with his foot on the brake, chosen by the conclave to calm the President of the United States, temper the major donors of economic aid to the Catholic Church, and channel the waters stirred by Francis between 2013 and 2025. He is very attentive to the unity of the Church, but he is not the spa pope some imagined when they saw him return last summer to the summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, which his predecessor barely set foot in. Nor is he Francis II.
“Robert Francis Prevost is a diesel engine; first he observes, asks questions, forms an understanding of the state of affairs, and then acts; first he thinks, and then he starts to accelerate.” This is how people who knew him during the twelve years he was Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine described him months ago.
The acceleration began last October with the publication of the apostolic exhortation Dilexi te (“I have loved you”), in which he reaffirmed Francis’ main focus: the poor must be at the center of the Catholic Church. It intensified in March with his strong condemnation of the military action by the United States and Israel in Iran. Subsequent events have amply proven him right. Three months after the start of Operation Epic Fury, Donald Trump is trying to get out of the Hormuz hornet’s nest, and the Persians are not making it easy for him. Prevost, a diesel engine, firmly withstood the criticism and scorn of the President of the United States.
The Pope’s call to curb polarization can be read as a request for an internal pact
As spring progressed, Leo XIV gained dimension, and many people far from religion began to perceive him as a truly interesting figure. The acceleration was completed in May, one year after the start of his pontificate, with the publication of the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, an impressive document on the dramatic dialectic emerging between the limits of human nature and the seemingly infinite horizons of artificial intelligence. Humanity, based on carbon, has created the Entity, based on silicon. The time now opening will determine whether Humanity manages to retain control of the Entity, and under what conditions.
With the UN stifled, no other international body was in a position today to raise the banner of humanism against the libertarian plans of silicon. The Catholic Church is doing so. The encyclical demands that AI respect human dignity, and Peter Thiel, Palantir’s ideologue, accuses the Pope of being the Antichrist for wanting to set limits on technological development. The MAGA movement launches the slogan “Human First,” and the Chinese Communist Party explains that its algorithms will remain faithful to socialism. These are today’s positions regarding the Entity.
Read more Pope Leo XIV calls for reconciliation and asks political actors for cooperation
Thiel continues to challenge him, now from Argentina. A week after the encyclical’s publication, President Javier Milei announced last Thursday in the Financial Times that Argentina will become a free zone for technological developments free from regulation and state control. Companies operated entirely by AI programs or robots can be registered in Argentina. The refrigerated Patagonia offers its endless plains for the installation of gigantic data centers. Rome wants to preserve human primacy. Silicon Valley chooses Argentina as a libertarian laboratory. Moscow yearns for the golden age of tanks. Beijing reinforces discipline. This is the map.
Why is the Pope coming to Spain with everything that’s happening? Because Spain belongs to Europe but has ties to America. In Madrid, this link is increasingly visible and intense. Spain’s future is important for the European Union and for the Catholic program in America. That’s why the Pope made his debut yesterday at the Royal Palace — the first act of the visit — with an address that can be interpreted as a call for an internal pact, before entropy takes over everything and the country falls apart. Disarm Spain. Prevent it from falling into the hands of its ghosts.
Leo XIV has not come to play the violin. “I invite everyone, for the love of truth, to abandon the divisive and polarizing narratives of your social reality and its history, to move from sterile simplifications to a fruitful appreciation of complexity.” That is the key passage of his first speech in Spain. Understand each other before it’s too late. Implicit message of support for the monarchy as an arbitral institution.
Why this trip to Spain? Spain is vital for the Catholic message to America
Santiago Abascal was at the Royal Palace. Just over a month ago, Vox accused the Catholic episcopate of profiting from the regularization of immigrants through subsidies received by their NGOs. Yesterday, they listened obediently to the Pope who has gained stature by resisting Trump’s attacks. Vox cannot leave all conservative Catholics in the hands of the Popular Party. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Catholic by day, libertarian by night, seemed captivated. Pedro Sánchez, serious and restrained, while a truck runs him over.
The Pope has not come to say that he agrees with the Government; in any case, it is the Government that agrees with him, but he recognizes Spain’s role on the international stage: “I express my gratitude to your country for its fidelity to international law and multilateralism, which translates into an active commitment to peace and solidarity among peoples.”
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First act. The Pope asks that Spain not be spoiled.
