At 720 meters above sea level and about 40 kilometers from Barcelona stands Montserrat Abbey, the most sacred site in Catalonia. It is home to its patron saint, La Moreneta, a 12th-century statue of the Virgin Mary. Pope Leo XIV travelled there to pray the rosary. This is how the faithful welcomed him...
Once inside, and after remarks from the abbot and the bishop, the rosary began in Catalan.
Then, the pope addressed those gathered. He recalled that Pope Francis honored the Virgin Mary with the Golden Rose and said that now, three years later, he entrusts his own pontificate to her care.
POPE LEO XIV
I am glad to come to the feet of La Moreneta to entrust to her, with full confidence in her maternal intercession, my Petrine ministry and the mission of the Church in a world that cries out for justice and peace.
During the rosary, dozens of children stood near the altar. They are members of the oldest boys’ choir in Europe, and surprised the crowds with the Virolai, the hymn dedicated to the Virgin of Montserrat.
After the ceremony, the Pope went out to greet the worshippers gathered in the square.
POPE LEO XIV
Thank you for being here. Thank you for this beautiful expression of faith. All united in one family, with this welcome of our mother Mary, the Virgin of Montserrat.
Thereis another link between La Moreneta and the papacy: Pope Leo XIII, the pope after whom Leo XIV chose his name, declared Montserrat the patron saint of Catalonia in 1881.
