Madrid, Spain — Pope Leo XIV gathered over 1.2 million people in Madrid on Sunday for a Mass in Plaza de Cibeles during his second day in Spain.
During the mass, the Pope urged people to move beyond “selfishness,” commit to the “common good,” and ensure that religion “is not a museum of the past.”
Later, in a meeting with civil society representatives, he encouraged a “social dialogue” in which the Church, with its mistakes and successes, longs to engage with the contemporary world.
Messages from the Mass
“No one can kneel before God and despise their brother,” said Pope Leo during the mass in one of his most powerful messages.
He also urged Spanish Catholics to engage with current affairs, saying, “May the religiosity that has animated this country for centuries not be a museum of the past.”
Leo XIV also issued a general call to move beyond «selfishness, indifference, and a comfortable, private faith,» and to open «to our brothers and sisters, to families, to the poor, to those who suffer, and to those who have lost hope.
“We are called to be present in the situations and challenges of society, not to flee, but to commit ourselves personally to building the common good,” he emphasized.
Message to civil society
In his meeting with representatives of civil society at the Movistar Arena, the Pope urged that “businesses should not view the employee as just another factor in the equation of its interests.”
He asked the university not to “turn its back on the world of work or renounce the truth,” called on the art world not to “aim solely at the elites,” and urged that “sports not be reduced to a spectacle or mere business.”
Corpus Christi Procession
After the mass, Leo XIV presided over the Corpus Christi procession through Plaza de Cibeles and Calle de Alcalá, following a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament kept at the Almudena Cathedral Museum.
The pontiff processed under a canopy, an ancient tradition that Leo XIV revived last year during Corpus Christi through the streets of Rome.
The procession offered an unprecedented sight of a pope walking through a festively decorated Calle de Alcalá covered with a vast floral carpet featuring over 30,000 carnations designed by the Asociación de Alfombristas do Corpus Christi de Ponteareas (Pontevedra, Galicia, northwest).
A Sea of People in a Welcoming City
The heat did not deter hundreds of thousands of people from taking to the streets and waiting for hours to see the pope pass by, during the first visit to Spain by a pontiff since Benedict XVI’s trip in 2011.
Before Mass, the pope toured several streets of Madrid in the popemobile and did not hesitate to ask for it to stop whenever he deemed necessary to greet the faithful and bless a baby brought to the vehicle by members of his escort.
Pope Leo XIV received the Golden Key of the city from the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez Almeida, and signed the guest book, where he wrote his wish that “Madrid continue to be a welcoming and inclusive city, where social life is inspired by ancient human values.”
On his third day in Spain, Monday, the pope will meet with victims of sexual abuse within the Church at the Nunciature in Madrid, where he is staying during his visit to the capital.
SOURCE : EFE. | Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |
