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BARCELONA, Spain (CNS) -- Flying from Spain's capital of Madrid to Barcelona June 9, Pope Leo XIV shifted his focus to the deeper and darker existential questions punctuating human life.

In Madrid -- the seat of government, the monarchy and finance as well as home to world-famous art, culture and sport -- the pope highlighted the gifts that Spain and its people already possess; saying they need to work together in their diversity to protect human dignity in order to thrive and address the many political, economic and social challenges they face. 

From the political center of Spain, Pope Leo traveled to Barcelona, the country's second-largest city and the capital of Catalonia, a region with a distinct language and culture that has long been home to a movement seeking greater autonomy or independence from Spain. Tensions escalated in 2017 after Catalan leaders organized an independence referendum that Madrid opposed and Spanish courts later ruled unconstitutional.

His remarks throughout his time in Barcelona built on a broader message: that human dignity does not depend on success, productivity or a flawless past, and that God does not abandon people in suffering or define them by their mistakes.

"We must question the dynamics of our society, the culture of individualism and the temptation of violence -- but not God," he said June 9 at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium.

While Pope Leo did not touch on current political or cultural debates there, he did read substantial portions of his written texts in Catalan, a regional language spoken in northeastern Spain. When he stumbled with its complex sounds, he received loud, appreciative applause from the crowds at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, which was named after a former president of the autonomous region who was imprisoned by the Spanish Republic, exiled and then shot by General Francisco Franco's authoritarian regime. 

He urged the 40,000 faithful in the stadium for a prayer vigil June 9 to reflect "on our personal journey, as well as on the 'nights' of our journey as a Church and those of Spain -- its cities, its old and new forms of poverty, its society and culture."

"At times, we experience the night of faith, the weariness of believing, the fatigue of the spirit, a sense of inadequacy in the face of the Gospel's call, the bitterness of our failures and the fear of not measuring up," he said in his homily. 

The preoccupation with failure and being forsaken was clear in the painful stories three young people shared with the pope and the crowd: one young man had lived feeling "immense emptiness"; one young woman had attempted suicide; and another spent time in foster care and juvenile detention after her father had tried to kill her mother.

"Sometimes I look up to heaven and ask God, 'Where were you when I was a little girl?'" she told the pope at the stadium.

In his response, the pope asked people to reconsider who's really to blame. "Should we ask, 'Where was God?' Or should we ask ourselves about humanity?" 

Each of the three young people ended their testimonies with questions of advice to the pope on the very struggles they shared. 

"He has endowed us with intelligence and will, given us a conscience," he said in his lengthy responses, encouraging people to take responsibility to confront injustices "both personally and as a society."

At the same time, Pope Leo forcefully admonished any attempts to "spiritualize pain, superficially attributing it to 'God's will' or to some mysterious plan of his, because this risks minimizing that suffering, silencing it and hurting people."

"God does not want suffering. He carries it with us and invites us to trust in him with perseverance," he said, because "with God, life is always reborn." 

On the other hand, he said, moments of darkness and suffering must never be silenced just "because certain cultural norms demand that we always be victorious and perfect."

Pope Leo noted an apparent correlation between increased mental health issues and a "deeply wrong" strain of constant progress prevalent in modern society that "subjects people to pressures, expectations and tensions that compromise healthy balances." He also called for "a healthcare system that prioritizes this invisible and widespread malaise" of depression.

A "healthy sense of restlessness" must be cultivated instead of chasing relentlessly after profit, performance and perfection, he said. "When people learn to pause and value what is important … allowing themselves to be enlightened by the Gospel, they also develop a critical perspective on a social system that does not put people first."

The pope also reached out to those marginalized in the prison system when he visited the city's "Brians 1" penitentiary. 

From the sunny exterior of the prison where birds chirped from green trees, incarcerated women shouted from the windows, "God bless you!" and "Long live the pope!" when he arrived early June 10. In the dim, dark gray-walled hall, brightened by white flowers on the stage, the pope listened to two women share their stories of loss, anger and finding peace.

"God loves you just as you are, but he dreams of you being even better!" he said. "The Lord allows us all to start anew, for being human and being Christian does not mean never making mistakes, but rather growing in the ability to convert, repent, make amends and, above all, to reconcile and forgive."

In fact, "we too are called not to judge the 'nights' -- neither the nights of our own lives, those of the Church, nor those of the society around us," he said in his homily at the prayer service June 9.

The darkness is a sign to keep searching, asking God questions and being open to the work of the Holy Spirit, he said. "We must welcome the night no longer as a sign of failure, but as the beginning of a new life."

That new life requires putting down one's protective and sometimes violent "armor," much like St. Ignatius of Loyola did after he prayed at the statue of Our Lady of Montserrat, housed in a sanctuary of the same name, and gave up his life as a soldier.

At the same sanctuary and Benedictine monastery, built into the jagged mountain range northwest of the city, Pope Leo said, Jesus "exposes the violence that can lurk in our words and attitudes: criticism that humiliates, condemnation that destroys and aggression that divides."

"That hidden violence can often disguise itself as a kind of armor, which we use to protect our wounds, our fears and the suffering caused by injustice," he said. 

The pope made no mention of clergy sex abuse while he was in Barcelona, even though the Montserrat monastery has come to symbolize the scandal in Spain after multiple victims came forward starting in 2019, reporting decades of abuse by the monks. Just two months before the pope's visit, the Catholic Church and Spain's government agreed on a compensation program for abuse victims.

When meeting with diocesan charities and aid organizations at the Church of San Agustí in Barcelona June 10, one volunteer told the pope they recognize their limitations and do not try to "fix" people's lives; their aim is to "never turn their backs" on anyone needing help.  

Pope Leo told them that Christians must be kind, gentle, compassionate, selfless "and seek the good of others, knowing that in every brother and sister who suffers it is the Lord himself." 

The pope spent most of that address responding to Renzo, a 6-year-old boy, who asked the pope light-hearted curiosities, like whether he liked soccer, and serious queries about homelessness, poverty and forgiveness.

In this small, poor parish, made up of many immigrants and missionaries, Pope Leo was in his element, comfortably going from being playful -- speaking off-the-cuff and making his audience laugh -- to being more solemn and sticking to prepared remarks "so we do not get sidetracked."  

There were many moments the pope's fun side shone through, like when, prompted by kids in the Olympic stadium, he gestured the "6-7" meme. He sat in the cockpit for part of the flight to Barcelona and radioed the pilot of a Spanish air force fighter jet escorting the papal plane, and he met with Bad Bunny before leaving Madrid after teasing reporters that the U.S. singer might outshine him with their overlapping events.

The trip's motto of "Lift up your gaze" became literal at the pope's final event in Barcelona with the blessing of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia's central tower, which makes it the tallest church in the world.

Standing at 566 feet high and topped by a glass and white enameled cross to reflect sunlight by day and glow at night, it was lit up during a stunning light and fireworks show to celebrate the pope's blessing and the 100th anniversary of the death of its architect, the venerable Antoni Gaudí.

As the Montserrat choir sang and music reached a crescendo, thousands of small hollow "towers" left on spectators' seats suddenly turned on and glowed in tandem with the lights glowing in the church. People immediately held aloft the small lights, which were remotely controlled to create waves and pulsate, evoking a larger living being, shining in harmony with the church and others.

The basilica is "a sign of unity and harmony for all of Spain" and to "lift their gaze to encounter the face of God the Father, shining forth in his Son made man," the pope said in his homily during Mass inside the basilica.

Construction of the massive edifice began in 1882. It survived two World Wars, a civil war, anarchist attacks and unsteady funding. The basilica remains "a work in progress today, reminding us that the Christian life is always a journey," the pope said. Each Christian is a "living stone" in the edifice of the Church and that, too, is a project that God is still carrying out, he said. 

His final message to the city was that holiness is not about perfection but about allowing God to continue his work within us, even amid mistakes, setbacks and suffering. 

"Since we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, this work consists in our very lives, which God  conceives as a masterpiece that we are to create together, and he calls us to collaborate with him."

 

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