Pope Leo has kicked off his first tour of an EU country (excluding Italy, because Rome is basically the Vatican's backyard) with a simple request to political leaders everywhere: maybe try not dividing your populations for personal gain? Novel concept, we know.
The pope, who has previously clashed with Donald Trump over immigration policies and the Iran war, has made the marginalized the focus of his Spanish visit. He's scheduled to meet homeless people in Madrid and migrants in the Canary Islands, because apparently setting an example of respecting “every human being” is a radical act these days.
He'll also meet survivors of sexual abuse by clergy in the Spanish Catholic Church - an institution that is only now confronting its history of papered-over abuse. Leo acknowledged that “abuses are still an open wound,” which is polite understatement for a scandal involving hundreds of thousands of survivors, per a 2023 report from Spain's human rights ombudsman.
Thousands gathered in Madrid to greet the pontiff, who toured in the popemobile - the first papal visit to Spain since 2011. Interestingly, Catholicism is making a comeback among Spanish youth: 28.8% of young people identified as Catholic in 2025, up from 17.6% in 2010. Maybe it's the pope's fashion sense.
Over 20 speeches, Leo will emphasize empathy for migrants, anti-demagoguery, and a world “crying from its depths for peace.” He warned against the temptation to “gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarisation,” adding that technology and social media are deepening divisions. He recently released a letter on the dangers of AI, suggesting humanity is at a moral crossroads - because apparently we needed another reason to worry about our phones.
Leo pointed to Spain's medieval history of Christians, Muslims, and Jews coexisting peacefully as a model, because if they could do it without Wi-Fi, surely we can manage. Spain's socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has launched a mass amnesty programme providing about half a million immigrants with a pathway to legal residency - a stark contrast to much of Europe's rising xenophobia.
King Felipe VI praised Leo's “clarity and firmness” on abuse, referencing a recently launched church-state reparations system. And in a lighter moment, the pope joked that he faces stiff competition from Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, who's in the middle of a 10-date Madrid run. “If they were confronted with the question: do they want to see Bad Bunny or do they want to see the pope, I think many will go to see Bad Bunny,” Leo said, adding hopefully: “But I think there will also be a few here to see the pope.”
We'll let you decide who has the better stage presence.