The Pope claims in Catalan the "head and house of Catalonia" as "builder of unity"
The pontiff lands in Catalonia and gives parts of his first homily in the country's language
BarcelonaThe day has arrived. Pope Leo XIV landed this Tuesday in Catalonia and in his first homily from Barcelona Cathedral, he has already made several parts in Catalan. Beyond starting and closing in the country's language, he has delivered entire paragraphs, although the use of Spanish has been predominant – a language he knows well and which marked his life as a bishop in Peru. The pontiff stated that "Barcelona is called the capital of Catalonia" and spiced up the claim with the fact that this gives "Barcelonians and Catalans" a "special vocation" to become "builders of unity".
Received this midday at El Prat by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa; by the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull; by the Bishop of Sant Feliu, Xabier Gómez; and by the Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona, Joan Josep Omella, the Pope took the opportunity to bless the airport chapel. Leo XIV's contact with the Catalans began at Barcelona Cathedral to pray the sixth hour – of the liturgy of the hours. He launched a message of ecclesial unity and praise for the city's patron saints, the Mare de Déu de la Mercè and Santa Eulàlia, with significant use of Catalan. Leo XIV defended the spirit of "fraternity" and asked Catholics for "a family atmosphere" and to be "solidary" and "open". In the same vein, as is customary in the Pope's interventions, he asked to be "witnesses of welcome, concord and peace" in "an increasingly fragmented and individualistic society".
Regarding the language, Omella himself referred to it in the welcome he gave him from the see, with parts in Catalan and parts in Spanish, although he justified that no translation was needed because "he understands it perfectly". When he entered the Cathedral, however, there were some chants not common in a church, pronounced by young faithful – "This is the Pope's youth" [in Spanish] – which ended up being silenced.
In any case, Leo XIV has claimed Barcelona, also in Catalan, for its "great tradition of the Church" and has cited the words of John Paul II on his visit in 1982, highlighting "the welcoming spirit that throughout history has led Barcelonians and Catalans" to "share human and Christian citizenship with many people". A "spacious place open to Christian fraternity" where "harmony and communion are built, beyond polarization". When the religious celebration was over, he greeted the faithful gathered in the square of the cathedral, where he spontaneously said a few words in Catalan.
Apostolic journey
This is the third papal visit to our country in contemporary history after the apostolic journey of John Paul II in 1982 and that of Benedict XVI in 2010. From the landing at the cathedral, the mother church of Barcelona, he has already begun an intense 36-hour agenda in Catalan lands, laden with religious symbolism and social commitment. The Pope's presence has also generated the expected externalities, such as traffic disruptions on the routes he travels with a strong police presence, and the Government has already recommended teleworking for these two days.
The visit of Leo XIV arrives preceded by the controversy over the use he will make of Catalan. Initially, the country's language was excluded from the blessing of the tower of Jesus of the Sagrada Família, the highlight of the visit. The actions of the Catalan episcopate, with pressure from some bishops, politicians and entities, as reported by ARA, have had an effect and Catalan has increased compared to the initial plan.
The private reception with Illa
Precisely, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has invited Leo XIV to introduce Catalan "in the urbi et orbi greetings". He has put the request in writing in a letter that he sent to the pontiff during the private reception he held this afternoon at the Episcopal Palace. The reception, according to Vatican sources, lasted about fifteen minutes and, as the Government explained, Illa and Leo XIV discussed the "current international context" and also the "technological advances at the service of humanity" that the Pope spoke about in his last encyclical. Both also highlighted the figure of Antoni Gaudí and the "importance of the inauguration of the Tower of Jesus of the Sagrada Familia. Furthermore, Illa presented three gifts to the Pope: a reproduction of the Homilies of Organyà, a reproduction of the articulated doll from the early Christian necropolis of Tarraco, and a copy of the Notarial Deed for the placement of the first stone of the Sagrada Familia.
After this reception, the Pope also greeted the rest of the Government members. During this two-day visit to Catalonia, the Pope will be accompanied almost at all times by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, who also traveled to Madrid to see him. On the other hand, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, will make an exception to his secular convictions and will attend the Mass at the Sagrada Familia. An unprecedented event in his tenure as head of government.
His agenda in Catalonia includes a visit on Wednesday to Brians prison, as a demonstration of his commitment to people deprived of their liberty. The visit he will make on Wednesday afternoon to the church of Sant Agustí in Barcelona will also have a strong social focus, where he will gather about a hundred religious entities working against social exclusion. The highlight of this Tuesday is in the afternoon, with a vigil at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, with 40,000 people, mainly young people. An event in which it is expected that he will once again prescribe "social commitment" (and not just prayer)"social commitment" (and not just prayer) to young people, who will be the main protagonists of a day with various concerts.
More symbolic will be Wednesday's visit to Montserrat, because it is one of the great religious and cultural symbols of the country, which in 2025 commemorated its millennium. The papamobile tour through Barcelona will end on the same Wednesday at the Sagrada Familia, where he will bless the tower of Jesus coinciding with the centenary of the death of the brilliant Antoni Gaudí, architect of the tallest church in all of Christendom.