The Catalan Church confronts the far right in defense of the Pope's visit to the Lluís Companys stadium
BarcelonaThe far-right group Christian Lawyers has requested in writing this Thursday to the Holy See that the Pope cancel the visit to the Lluís Companys stadium with the false argument that the former president of the Generalitat was a "murderer" and, instead, has asked him to go to the Valley of the Fallen, a mausoleum built by the dictator Francisco Franco, with hundreds of thousands of dead and exiled behind him. The Archbishop of Barcelona, Joan Josep Omella, was very harsh when asked at a press conference about the request to cancel this visit and took the opportunity to launch a series of warnings to the radical right, also regarding their hatred of Islam.
"Where are we going to create confrontations?", he lamented. Thus, he argued that "the best thing is to always work to facilitate coexistence, even more so when someone comes in the name of Jesus Christ". And he recalled that "the Pope visited a Muslim country like Algeria, where there are very few Christians", and "they welcomed him very well": "Muslims and Catholics visit Our Lady of Africa", he said, which is a "demonstration of this coexistence" and not the "walls of confrontation" that he attributed to the request of Christian Lawyers. For this reason, he vindicated the pontiff's "words like darts" in favor of peace, despite the clash with Donald Trump, and praised the "vision of communion".
The visit of Pope Leo XIV to Catalonia has shaken the Church in Catalonia, so this morning the Sagrada Família basilica remained closed to the public to present the pontiff's trip to the press. With the majesty of Antoni Gaudí's temple, located just in front of the inscription of the Our Father on the door at the opposite end of the altar, Archbishop Omella, Auxiliary Bishop David Abadías, and Father Enric Puig, coordinator of the trip, detailed several new features, such as Leo XIV's travel by open car –in a popemobile– from the Episcopal Palace of Barcelona to the Sagrada Família on June 10. The Pope will be able to greet the people of Barcelona on the route from Plaça de la Seu, "totally or partially" in an open car.
The Barcelona episcopal palace will be the papal residence for the two days of the visit, June 9 and 10. The Pope will also say a few words in Catalan: "The Holy Father will say something in Catalan as Benedict XVI did, to show deference and respect: it is planned that he will speak in Catalan," said Father Puig. The visit's anthem, conceived in Spanish with some phrases in Catalan, has already been fully translated into Catalan and will be heard in the stadium, where various well-known musical groups will perform, including Sergio Dalma and the Montserrat Escolania, according to the speakers.
The route
The Pope will begin his visit to Catalonia with an institutional reception at El Prat airport and from there he will travel to Barcelona Cathedral, together with Omella, the cathedral chapter, the diocesan curia, seminarians and volunteers. At one o'clock, the sixth prayer will be recited and an act of thanksgiving to the volunteers will be held. After lunch, there will be institutional visits, such as from the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and his government, and from the mayor, Jaume Collboni. In any case, during the period of visits, he will likely receive the MED, an interreligious group from the Mediterranean created by Pope Francis – with about sixty bishops and 250 young people – the community of the Augustinians, and it is not ruled out that he may meet with victims of child abuse in the Church.
The big novelty will be the event at the Olympic Stadium, a vigil that will begin at 6:00 PM, with musical performances and moments of prayer, and will last until 8:00 PM, when the Pope will arrive and will lead the Eucharistic adoration and the liturgy of the Word. From this Friday afternoon, the faithful who wish to do so can download an entry to attend on the website alçalamirada.cat A total of 39,000 people will be able to fill it, a little more than half of whom will be invitations to parish communities, educational institutions or ecclesial entities, while the rest will be for the general public, who will have to provide their personal details. In total during the visit, the Pope will make contact with more than 47,000 people, whether at the stadium or at the various masses, far from the 5,500 who saw Benedict XVI in 2010.
On June 10, he will begin with a visit to Can Brians prison and will continue to the Abbey of Montserrat, where he will be received by Abbot Manel Gasch and where he will have lunch with the Benedictine community. In the afternoon, he will travel to the parish of Sant Agustí, his community. It will be from half past seven in the evening that he will leave the episcopal palace for the Sagrada Família, where he will bless the Tower of Jesus just after praying at Gaudí's tomb.
Overall, it will be a trip with a "social dimension" and a lot of symbolism, on the centenary of the death of the venerable Gaudí, who is still undergoing the process to be beatified, something they expect to happen "in the coming months", according to Omella. In any case, the archbishop emphasizes that the Sagrada Família "has a very important symbolism", "not only for Catalonia and Barcelona, but for the whole world, for the reflection of beauty, reflection and charity".
