"It was very exciting": Salvador Illa meets with Leo XIV and invites him to Catalonia

BarcelonaThe President of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), Salvador Illa, met this Wednesday morning with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. The meeting, according to sources within the Government, took place at 8:30 a.m. and lasted half an hour. He was in a private audience at the Vatican, which is why—the Generalitat (Catalan Government) emphasizes—Illa is "the first institutional representative of Spain to be received" by this Pope, who was elected as the new pontiff four months ago following the death of Pope Francis. "It was a very moving conversation for me," Salvador Illa stated after the meeting in statements to the media. Also participating in the audience were the Minister of Justice, Ramon Espadaler, and the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, Isabel Celaá.

As the President himself explained, they discussed the world situation and lamented "the excessive polarization." In this regard, they agreed to keep "the values of Christian humanism in mind" to curb "the verbal and warlike escalation" experienced in wars like the one in Gaza. "We have agreed that this is an unacceptable situation," he emphasized. On this point, both agreed to call for "respect." The humanitarian flotilla mission, which is now close to Gaza"The Pope has expressed a desire for peace, to learn to live together and engage in dialogue, not to take differences to the point of breaking up coexistence," the president added.

During the meeting, Illa also took the opportunity to invite the pontiff to visit Catalonia in June of next year, to mark the completion of the Jesús tower at the Sagrada Familia and also to coincide with the commemoration of the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death. "He received the invitation with attention. [...] He wasn't in a position to confirm it; that's normal due to his schedule, but it seemed to me that he would take it into consideration," Illa assured. During the meeting, Isla also explained the "situation in Catalonia" and the reason for his trip to Rome: to celebrate the Millennium of Montserrat.

The president has given the Pope several institutional and personal gifts. He gave him a reproduction of the tower of Our Lady of the Holy Family and two books: Catalonia, where a trip is made through all the Catalan regions, and The convent and parish of San Agustín in Barcelona, written by Josep Maria Martí i Bonet, Josep Maria Juncà and Ramon and Lluís Bonet i Armengol – the Pope is a member of the Order of Saint Augustine. Isla has also given him a copy of the film and the book by Only Javier; a CD of a Vozes concert, stoles made by inmates of the Wad-Ras prison, five bottles of olive oil from the five Catalan designations of origin, and a batch of Catalan cured meats.

The precedents

Isla's meeting with Pope Leo XIV takes place before the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has even met with him. In June, just weeks after being appointed as the new pontiff, the Spanish Prime Minister held a call with the new pope. They discussed the "challenges" facing the international community, such as "the defense of human rights and the fight against climate change and inequality," and agreed to seek "peace and human dignity." When Leo XIV was elected, Isla also stated that he would invite the pontiff to come to Catalonia, in addition to defending the importance of having "moral leadership at the head of the Church at a time of such upheaval and confusion in the world" and having "clear ideas" on issues such as immigration and inequality.

In any case, this is not the first time in recent history that a pontiff has received a president of the Generalitat (Catalan government). In November 2023, Pope Francis received the then president, Pere Aragonès, in a meeting which lasted about forty minutes. According to Aragonés after the meeting, they discussed "the need for dialogue and negotiation."

Pope Francis himself received Salvador Illa in March of last year, when he was still leader of the opposition. During that visit, Illa gave the former pontiff the books The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. When the stones cry out, by the Catalan theologian Rodolf Puigdollers, and The Creation embroidery of the Girona Cathedral, by Carlos Mancho.

Dialogue with the Mayor of Rome

After another meeting with the president of Lazio, Isla continued with the official agenda in Rome with a dialogue with the mayor of the Italian capital, Roberto Gualtieri, within the framework of the forum Festival delle cittàFrom there, the president championed the recipe of "shared prosperity" to address inequalities in a climate where "fear" grows and fuels the far right. He did so with the full complicity of Gualtieri, of the Democratic Party (part of the S&D party).

Isla tiptoed around the eight-year anniversary of the 1-O referendum when the moderator mentioned it: he limited himself to saying that Catalonia experienced years of "tension" that brought to the surface "populist" responses to complex problems and that, at this time, the country is committed to "col. He also took the opportunity to claim that it would be "positive" for Catalonia to have the powers over immigration that the PP, Vox and Podemos overturned, in order to implement reception and integration policies with "more efficiency".

The president's trip to Rome is part of the celebration of the Millennium of Montserrat – an exhibition on this issue is being inaugurated in the Italian city – and also the 40th anniversary of the Castell de Peralada Festival. According to sources from the Government, the visit will serve to "strengthen relations with the institutions" of this country, after the president of the Generalitat already visited Milan last April within the framework of the transfer of the presidency of the Four Engines for Europe.