The Barça, presidents of the Generalitat and entities receive the Pope claiming Catalan and "national identity"

BarcelonaAn honorific welcome to Pope Leo XIV with international resonance and a defense of Catalonia and Catalan "national language and identity". FC Barcelona, various social entities such as Òmnium and the ANC, other Catholic organizations, former presidents of the Generalitat and Parliament, and numerous political and religious personalities have signed a manifesto published as an advertisement this Friday in some international media, such as Avvenire or Corriere della Sera, as well as Catalan ones like ARA.

"We await you in the land that Saint Paul trod in Tarragona to pray, together with you, in the language in which we address God. Your Holiness, welcome to Catalonia". With these words concludes the text signed by former presidents of the Generalitat Jordi Pujol, Artur Mas, Carles Puigdemont, Quim Torra, and Pere Aragonès; but also former presidents of Parliament Ernest Benach, Núria de Gispert, Carme Forcadell, Anna Erra, and Roger Torrent, in addition to the current president, Josep Rull. It is also signed by other political leaders, such as former vice-president and ERC leader Oriol Junqueras; former minister and Junts secretary general Jordi Turull; and former minister and Republican deputy Joan Ignasi Elena.

Following the episcopal and political call from Catalanism for the pontiff to also speak Catalan during the blessing of the tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Família, and the acknowledgment that this will indeed happen, the signatories make a staunch defense of the Catalan nation: "Our language and our national identity have been persecuted, and therefore, the fact that Catalan culture is a vibrant reality in the 21st century must be considered a victory for the freedom of peoples", they write. "When we ascend as you will ascend to Montserrat, we sing to the Mother of God to continue illuminating the Catalan land", they conclude.

In parallel, they point out that in the architect creator of the Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí, whose death centenary is commemorated this year, "genius and national roots coincide", because "without Catalanity, [his] universality would not have existed". In this way, they recall that on the day the last piece of the tower of Jesus Christ was placed, the tradition of the stonemasons' guild was followed and "they placed the Catalan flag at the very top" and, alongside it, the Vatican ensign. "We await you with both flags", they mention.

Reclaiming the Principality as "a host society", not as "a country that has built walls", he highlights the "new Catalans" and also echoes the cry "against war", which Leo XIV has so defended and which will resonate again on next week's apostolic journey.

Multiple adhesions

The abbess of the monastery of Sant Benet de Montserrat, Maria del Mar Albajar; the rector of the parish of Santa Anna and the field hospital, Father Peio Sánchez; Father Xavier Morlans, consultant of the Dicastery for Evangelization of the Holy See, and the theologian Francesc Torralba, member of the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See, support the manifesto. In the field of entities, there is the Catalanist and Catholic group of about thirty organizations Xarxa d'Entitats Cristianes, the Vedruna Communities of Catalonia, and the community of nuns of the monastery of Sant Pere de les Puel·les.

At the same time, other personalities also participate, such as the president of Justice and Peace, Dolors Fernández; the director of the iSocial Foundation, Toni Codina; the former dean of the College of Auditors of the Holy See, Josep Maria Cullell; the general director of the CIC and poet Carles Duarte; the philosopher Josep Maria Esquirol; the actor Enric Majó, and the president of MIIC Pax Romana, Carles Torner.