VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV’s 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.Leo’s weeklong visit begins Saturday in Madrid with a welcome by the country’s 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.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.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.
But with the Spain trip — 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 — Leo is seemingly keen to bring his message of peace, unity and human dignity to a continent in the throes of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the fallout from the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and anxiety over artificial intelligence.In listing some of the trip’s themes, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said a big part of Leo’s message in Spain would be directed at young people to help them “envisage the future, even in an age of strongmen, where the church seeks to foster holy men.”
