Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands are the three key destinations that the Spanish Church has proposed to the Vatican for the trip that Pope Leo XIV intends to make this year, although there is still no specific date and the Pontiff has yet to give his approval to this program. This was explained by the cardinal and archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo, in statements to the press in Rome, after meeting with the authorities of the Vatican Secretariat of State to discuss the issue of the papal visit. The cardinal attended the meeting accompanied by the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello; the Archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella, and the Archbishop of the Canary Islands, José Mazuelos Pérez, to present to the Holy See a “first draft” that the Pope himself already announced that he intended to make.
“Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands are the three venues that have been proposed. It is a first draft that must be passed to the Holy Father so that he can then refine it with the notes that he deems,” said Cobo, and stressed that at the moment there is no specific date. “It is a first meeting that the Secretary of State has called to start thinking about and planning a visit to Spain,” he clarified. And he pointed out that the process of preparing an apostolic trip is long and has different facets, which also involve the Government and the rest of the authorities. “The first steps have been taken because this is a very long process of accreditations, of requests, also of dialogue with the Government and all State authorities,” said the cardinal.
