Pope Leo XIV spent two days in Barcelona, from 9 to 11 June. The first day was devoted to the Midday Prayer, followed by the Pope’s address during the prayer vigil at the Olympic Stadium. The following day (10 June) he visited the Brians 1 prison and recited the Rosary at the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, a Benedictine monastic complex some 50 km from Barcelona, which houses the statue of Our Lady of Montserrat, also known as ‘La Moreneta’, proclaimed patron saint of Catalonia in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII. This was followed by a meeting with representatives of the diocesan charitable and welfare organisations at the Church of Sant Agustí and Mass celebrated at the Sagrada Família (on the day marking the 100th anniversary of the death of Antoni Gaudí), with the inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ.
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06 June 2026
Parent Category: Tutte le Attività (EN) -
Category: Anno 2026
A delegation from the “United States of the World” and the “Fondazione Mediterraneo” took part in the key events of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Madrid.
Secretary-General Michele Capasso summarised the highlights of the pastoral visit, stating:
“I was deeply moved because Spain is a country of great significance to us. As if in a film, I saw many friends who have supported the ‘United States of the World’ for 40 years: Cardinals Parolin and Artime, King Felipe VI, and Pope Leo XIV himself. I was struck by the calm power of his words, when, for example, he said: ‘… a just society defends every human life, the poor, peace, freedom…’. But I felt great emotion during the seven-minute standing ovation from the members of the Spanish Parliament following the speech by Pope Leo XIV, the first Pontiff to visit the Congress of Deputies, the seat of the country’s institutional, legal and democratic life. He calls for peace through the courage of negotiation, denouncing rearmament in Europe and the world: ‘True security stems from respect for international law’. He called for the defence of life and the family, as well as the protection of religious freedom. He asked for concrete responses to the migration crisis to ensure reception and integration.”
The visit was packed with many significant moments: from the meeting with the institutions to that with the Augustinians; from Holy Mass to the Vigil with young people; from the visit to Caritas to the meeting with the world of culture and art; from the Corpus Christi procession to the meeting at the Bernabéu Stadium with the diocesan community.
President Michele Capasso and Pia Molinari, Director of the MAMT Museum of Peace, presented a number of gifts to Engineer Antonio Durante in recognition of his collaboration and kind assistance with the Foundation’s files.
One year after its opening on 6 June 2025, the closing ceremony was held for the exhibition “Sarajevo-Srebrenica: not to forget”, hosted on the fifth floor of the Peace Museum.
Amira Arifović-Harms visited the section of the Museum of Peace dedicated to Mario Molinari, where she was welcomed by President Michele Capasso and Pia Molinari.