“Weapons and Walls” — In Madrid, Pope Leo XIV Rebukes the Politics Tearing Us Apart
With Vox leader Santiago Abascal seated in the Royal Palace, the pope warned against leaders who win popularity by “fanning the flames of polarization.” By nightfall, 600,000 filled the Castellana to pray with him.
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Pope Leo XIV stood in the Royal Palace of Madrid on Saturday and told Spain’s assembled leadership that “the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarization seems to have grown rather than diminished, and human dignity continues to be violated.”
Seated in the audience was Santiago Abascal, the leader of Vox, Spain’s far-right party. When the pope finished, Abascal rose with the rest of the room and applauded.
The American pope landed at Madrid’s Barajas airport at 10:30 in the morning, where King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez welcomed him. No pope had set foot in Spain in 15 years.
The Royal Palace address — delivered before some 300 state authorities, religious leaders, and diplomats after a 21-gun salute — opened a journey that runs through June 12 with stops in Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands, where Leo will meet with migrants and the organizations that serve them.
The pope asked the Spanish people to lay down the stories they tell against one another. Here is the heart of the speech:
“For the love of truth, I invite everyone to set aside the divisive and polarizing narratives of your societal reality and history, so as to overcome sterile simplifications through the fruitful appreciation of complexity.”
He was speaking to a nation in genuine distress. Sánchez has governed since 2018 atop a fragile coalition now battered by corruption scandals, and the opposition Popular Party and Vox are demanding his resignation ahead of elections due next year.
Migration sits at the center of the fight.
