VATICAN CITY (RNS) — When Pope Leo XIV lands in Spain on Saturday (June 6), he will find a country riven by polarization over migration and life issues, and where declining church attendance coexists with a new, striking interest in faith among young people.
In short, the pope will land in a European laboratory for many tensions shaping the West: a promising stage to deliver his message of unity, human dignity and peace.
Already in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI described Spain as a central place for the “encounter, not conflict,” between faith and secular modernity. Leo struck a similar note in a Feb. 9 letter to 1,600 Spanish priests, saying Spain faces “advanced processes of secularization” and “a growing polarization in public discourse,” but also a “new restlessness” and spiritual searching among young people.
Spain, once the home of Catholic missionaries throughout the centuries, is now itself a mission territory where an increasingly small Catholic minority seeks the encouragement of the pontiff. “I think the pope’s visit will be a splendid moment to encourage this whole missionary path of the church in Spain,” said Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, who heads the Spanish conference of bishops.
“For Spanish Catholics, it is like a great call — allow me the expression …