Barcelona was the focus on Thursday morning as Pope Leo XIV ended his two-day visit to Catalonia by departing from Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport for the Canary Islands. Catalan president Salvador Illa saw him off and thanked him for the visit.
The departure came at 8:45am, closing a trip that combined major public events, religious ceremonies and official meetings across Catalonia. The visit included a mass at the Sagrada Família, where the Pope blessed the basilica’s Jesus Tower.
During his stay, Pope Leo XIV repeatedly called for Christian unity, peace and acceptance. Reports also said he used Catalan in parts of his speeches and greetings to the faithful.
On Tuesday, the Pope arrived at El Prat Airport and began his official agenda in Barcelona with a homily at Barcelona Cathedral, his first in Catalonia as pontiff. He urged Christians to work for peace and harmony and said Catalans have a “vocation for building unity”.
Later that day, he held a large vigil at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, where around 40,000 people took part. The event included music, prayer and a popemobile tour, and the Pope also condemned violence against women, saying it must be confronted personally and as a society.
On Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV visited Brians 1 prison, where he met 80 inmates from Brians 1, Brians 2 and Wad-Ras. He then travelled to Montserrat, where more than 8,000 people welcomed him during the abbey’s millennium celebrations, before thanking Catalonia for receiving people from other countries and helping to integrate them into a single family.
The visit ended with the Sagrada Família mass in the presence of King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Salvador Illa, Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni and Esteve Camps, president of the temple’s Construction Board. Before the celebration, the Pope prayed at Antoni Gaudí’s tomb and in the Blessed Sacrament chapel, then presided over the blessing and inauguration of the Jesus Tower.