Over 1.2 million people gathered in Madrid Sunday for a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV, who called for a renewal of the Catholic faith in Spain, during one of the largest religious events in the country in recent years.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia joined throngs of devotees waving Spanish and Vatican flags in Cibeles Square for a service filled with religious symbolism.
In his homily, Pope Leo said Spaniards should not look at religion as "a museum of the past to be visited, but a school of faith from which to draw even today."
The mass comes on day two of Pope Leo's seven-day visit to Spain, a traditional Catholic bastion where religious observance has been declining sharply in recent years as in much of western Europe.
A huge logistical and security operation was in place for the event, after which the pope led a traditional procession along a route lined with white and yellow carnations – the Vatican flag colors.
