It was clear during his trip to Spain that Pope Leo was not the protagonist, but a witness. You can see his amazement at gathering with 650,000 young people in Madrid.
He witnessed the trembling voice of one of the country's most important celebrities
ANTONIO BANDERAS
Spanish actor
Today I stand here, Holy Father, confessing that I have been the victim of God's enchantment. Thank you very much.
He heard testimonies that put human faces to stories of inconceivable pain and suffering.
DESIRÉ TESTIMONY
During my childhood, my father tried to kill my mother. She survived because a young man stepped in to protect her, and he was killed....Sometimes I look up to heaven and ask God: Where were You when I was a little girl?
MIGRANT TESTIMONY
During the journey, I became pregnant by a man from the mafia. When I arrived in Spain, they took my baby away from me to force me into prostitution. They treated me terribly. They separated me from my son. He was eleven months old. When the police...
Political rivals were able to unite in common understanding of his moral leadership.
And transcendent architecture expressed the divine beauty of God.
Pope Leo was not the protagonist. He was the witness through whose eyes the world saw a living Church moving through Spain. Families took to the streets, endless army of volunteers shared their time, and more than one and a half million people gathered in the heart of the capital simply to pray.
And the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia exceeded all expectations, needing no further evidence to prove its place not only among the greatest Catholic churches of the world but among all of humanity's greatest masterpieces.
In Spain, there was also perhaps the best political moment of the year: the reaction that no one expected from the Spanish Parliament. Setting aside political differences, members of parliament gave Pope Leo a 7-minute standing ovation. It was more than courtesy, it was respect for a moral leader who could speak to the value of human life.
This unconditional respect for human life was also witnessed by the pope when he visited the Canary Islands. Refusing to abandon the more than 3,000 migrants who arrived en masse at the port of Arguineguín during the Covid period, the Church stepped in to help.
The girl whose mother was almost murdered, on the other hand, found a home with religious sisters. Victims of human trafficking who arrived in Spain were also welcomed by the Church.
The Spanish Church, then, was the protagonist of this journey which the world witnessed through the eyes of Pope Leo. It is a story that Spain will find difficult to forget. It was also a reminder that perhaps Spain is not as secularized as many had previously believed.
