Leo XIV is about to complete one year of pontificate and. The Vatican published this Wednesday its appointments in the country, which will take it to Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islandson a trip that his predecessor, Pope Francis I, could not make. While passing through the capital, the Pontiff will stay at the Apostolic Nunciature, the embassy of the Holy See in Spain, where he will meet with the President of the Government Pedro Sánchez on the second day of the trip.
The first speech of a Pope in Las Cortes
The meeting between the head of the Catholic Church and President Sánchez will be the first between the two since the beginning of Robert Prevost’s pontificate. It will take place at 9:30 a.m., just before Leo XIV in joint session, in what will be the first visit and the first speech by a pontiff in the Spanish Parliament.
In previous visits, on August 19, 2011, Benedict XVI also received José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero at the Nunciature, on his trip on the occasion of World Youth Day, and the previous year, the meeting between the two took place at the end of the trip to Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela at the Prat airport.
It is traditional to reserve a moment at the Nunciature for the meeting with the prime ministers, since the official reception is in charge of the head of state and in this case the Kings will receive the American pope at the Royal Palace.
In Madrid, the Oriente Palace and a Caritas center
The busiest day will be Monday, June 8. Beyond seeing the President face to face and speaking in Parliament, Felipe VI and Letizia will receive Leo XIV at the Royal Palace of Madrid. In addition, you will visit the project’s house for homeless people 24 hour service of Cáritas in Carabanchel. That same night, he will hold a meeting at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium with Madrid fans and, on Tuesday, a farewell meeting with volunteers at the Ifema fairgrounds.
On his first day in the capital, on Saturday, June 6, the Pontiff will also celebrate a prayer vigil with young people in which Eucharistic Adoration will be held in the Plaza de Lima.
On Sunday, mass will be celebrated in Plaza de Cibeles at 9:30 a.m., later he will participate in the Corpus Christi procession and will meet with the members of the Order of Saint Augustine, to which Leo XIV belongs, at the Nunciature. That day in the afternoon, the meeting is scheduled at the Movistar Arena and, in the evening, he will have dinner at the residence of the cardinal archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo.
Extensive agenda in Barcelona: Sagrada Familia and Monserrat
Leo XIV will land in Barcelona on Tuesday, June 9. In Barcelona, the Pope will visit the penitentiary center Brian 1in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, and the parish of San Agustín in Raval, in addition to the Monserrat monastery and will celebrate a mass in the Sagrada Familia.
On the same Tuesday, he will move to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia for the hour and a half prayer and then will hold a prayer vigil at the Lluís Companys stadium, the Olímpic de Montjuïc.
On Wednesday the 10th, the Pope will visit the penitentiary center Brian 1where men and women are held and since 2018 there has been a mixed module, in which the prison of his pontificate after that of Bata, in Equatorial Guinea. Later, it will be transferred to monserrat monastery for the prayer of the rosary and will have lunch with the community of Benedictine monks.
Likewise, Robert Prevost, maintaining his pastoral figure, will visit the parish of San Agustín in the Raval neighborhood, in Barcelona, to meet with the Augustinian community, the order to which he belongs, where he will hold a meeting with the realities of diocesan charity and assistance.
In the afternoon it will be time for the Sagrada Familia, where at 7:00 p.m. a mass will take place and later the tower of Jesus Christ will be blessed, recently completed and the tallest in the basilica, 172.5 meters high, in an act that coincides with the centenary of
Canary Islands, the last stop
The Canary Islands will be the last stop of the Pope’s historic trip to Spain in 2026. Leo XIV will hold a meeting with the associations that deal with migration in the port of Arguineguín, in Gran Canaria, and will visit the center for migrants The Roots in Tenerifeand will celebrate two masses on each island.
After having visited Madrid and Barcelona, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria he will go to the port of Arguineguín, place of arrival of the cayucos from Africa, to find Afterwards he will participate in the meeting with the clergy in the St. Anne’s Cathedral and will end the day with a mass at the Gran Canaria stadium.
On Friday, June 12, he will attend the The Rootsin Tenerife, where the most vulnerable are housed and also on the island, will meet in the Plaza de Cristo de la Laguna with the different associations that deal with integration and will conclude their trip to Spain with a mass mass in the port of Santa Cruz.
