In Catalonia, former and current political leaders, along with several organisations, have signed a letter asking that Catalan be used during Pope Leo XIV’s visit next week.
According to RAC1, the letter is due to be published tomorrow in newspapers in Italy, Catalonia and Spain. It is set to appear in Corriere della Sera, Avvenire, La Vanguardia and ABC.
Among the signatories are former Generalitat presidents Jordi Pujol, Quim Torra, Pere Aragonès and Carles Puigdemont. The current speaker of the Catalan parliament, Josep Rull, has also signed, together with former speakers Ernest Benach, Núria de Gispert, Roger Torrent, Laura Borràs and Anna Erra. Junts general secretary Jordi Turull and ERC president Oriol Junqueras are also listed.
Organisations backing the letter include the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Òmnium Cultural and FC Barcelona, according to RAC1. The full list of signatories has not been independently published in the article.
The letter is addressed to the Pontiff and welcomes him to Catalonia while stressing Catalan identity and language. It says the signatories hope he will be able to pray in the language Catalans use to address God, and it refers to Catalonia’s tradition of hospitality and to periods of persecution of Catalan culture.
For more Catalonia-wide reporting, see our news coverage. Readers can also follow official Vatican updates via the Vatican website and the Vatican News service.
