Pope visits Spain to highlight migration amid political tensions
AI Summary
Pope Leo XIV begins a week-long visit to Spain on June 6—his first to an EU country outside Italy in over a decade—prioritizing engagement with migration issues and meeting with abuse victims of clergy sexual abuse. The itinerary includes Madrid, Barcelona (where he will inaugurate a new tower at Sagrada Familia basilica), and the Canary Islands, set against Spain's political turbulence and ongoing Church sexual abuse crisis.
Conservative: Conservative outlets frame the papal visit as an effort by the Pope and the Church to help ease political tensions on the contested issue of migration in Europe, positioning him as a bridge-builder between Catholics and society.
Pope Leo XIV arrives in Spain on Saturday for a seven-day trip focused on migration, including a visit to the Canary Islands where he will honour thousands of migrants who have died trying to reach Europe.
The trip comes at a politically sensitive time as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is under attack over several corruption scandals involving his inner circle. ...