{"id":2574,"date":"2026-06-06T08:33:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T08:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2574"},"modified":"2026-06-06T08:33:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T08:33:52","slug":"pope-to-find-a-secularized-polarized-spain-where-the-catholic-church-has-a-complex-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2574","title":{"rendered":"Pope to find a secularized, polarized Spain where the Catholic Church has a complex legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

VATICAN CITY (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV\u2019s trip to Spain will bring the American pontiff to a traditional center of European Christianity, where the Catholic Church has a complex legacy and the Socialist-led government is in the midst of a political crisis.<\/p>\n

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Leo\u2019s weeklong visit begins Saturday in Madrid with a welcome by the country\u2019s Catholic monarchs, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. His first day ends with a prayer vigil with young people, many of whom will be witnessing their first pope on Spanish soil.<\/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 and cover-up in the once-staunchly Catholic country.<\/p>\n

The visit, the first by a pope in 15 years, signals Leo is returning papal attention to Europe and its Christian roots. Pope Francis largely stayed away from the traditional centers of European Christianity in favor of smaller Catholic communities farther away.<\/p>\n

But with the Spain trip \u2014 and a day trip to Monaco in March, a quick stop in San Marino in August and a four-day visit to France planned for September \u2014 Leo is seemingly keen to bring his message of peace, unity and human dignity to a continent in the throes of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, the fallout from the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and anxiety over artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

In listing some of the trip\u2019s themes, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said a big part of Leo\u2019s message in Spain would be directed at young people to help them \u201cenvisage the future, even in an age of strongmen, where the church seeks to foster holy men.\u201d<\/p>\n

A first-ever papal speech to the Spanish Parliament<\/h3>\n

The highlight of Leo\u2019s visit to Madrid will be his speech Monday to both chambers of the Spanish Parliament. Even though St. John Paul II visited Spain five times and Pope Benedict XVI three, no pope has ever addressed Las Cortes Generales, as the Parliament is known. <\/p>\n

Such speeches are rare and often become one of the most important of a pontificate. <\/p>\n

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

The papal visit will be hard to miss in Madrid. Leo\u2019s face has been plastered across subway cars, billboards and ads in metro stations in the Spanish capital. On display at some souvenir shops are posters and magnets of Leo and other papal knick-knacks. Bakeries are selling limited edition pope cakes and pastries.<\/p>\n

But Leo won\u2019t be the only VIP paralyzing much of Madrid this weekend. Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny is holding two shows of his 10-concert series in the Spanish capital while the pope is in town.<\/p>\n

Despite some expected protests of Leo\u2019s visit \u2014 the trip is costing some 15 million euros ($17.2 million) \u2014 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 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, whose dictatorship ended the war. 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

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And yet there are signs of renewed interest 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 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

A Mass at Sagrada Familia and migration message<\/h3>\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. While Catalonia\u2019s beloved native son is on the path to possible sainthood, no announcements on his canonization are expected during the trip, Bruni said.<\/p>\n

During the June 10 Mass, Leo will inaugurate the soaring central spire of the basilica, the Tower of Jesus Christ, which when it was moved into place earlier this year made Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world.<\/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 that is 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 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 United States. <\/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 in Madrid days before Leo\u2019s visit.<\/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

Spain\u2019s Socialist-led government has bucked a general trend in Europe and the U.S. by announcing it will grant legal status 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 with an aging workforce and low birthrate.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Naishadham contributed from Madrid.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

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

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