The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will meet with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on May 27, just a few days before the official visit that the Pontiff will make to Spain from June 6 to 12.
The meeting will be the first between Sánchez and Robert Prevost since the start of his pontificate and is part of the agenda for the president’s trip to Rome. According to the information released, the Government had requested an audience with the new Pope shortly after his election and had also extended the invitation for him to visit Spain.
Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Spain will include stops in Madrid, Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It will be the first visit by a Pope to Spain since Benedict XVI’s trip in 2011.
A meeting before the official visit to Spain
The May 27 meeting at the Vatican will serve as a prelude to Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic journey to Spain, which will have a clear institutional, religious, and social dimension.
During his stay in Madrid, the Pope will be received by the King and Queen, will hold meetings with civil authorities, and will deliver a speech before the members of the Spanish Parliament in the Congress of Deputies.
In addition, it is planned that Sánchez will meet again with Pope Leo XIV on Monday, June 8, at the Apostolic Nunciature in Spain, shortly before the Pontiff’s address to the Cortes Generales.
The Government seeks to showcase harmony with the Vatican
From the Executive, they highlighted the good relations with the Holy See and the coincidence on some international issues, especially regarding armed conflicts and the migration issue.
In recent weeks, the Pope thanked the people of the Canary Islands for the welcome given to the passengers of the cruise ship Hondius, affected by an outbreak of hantavirus and evacuated from Tenerife.
Pope Leo XIV’s trip to the Canary Islands will have a strong migratory component, with events planned in Gran Canaria and Tenerife focused on the reception and integration of migrants.
Sánchez’s previous visits to the Vatican
The May 27 meeting will be Pedro Sánchez’s third visit to the Vatican since he took office as President of the Government in 2018.
The first took place on October 24, 2020, during the pontificate of Francis, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. On that occasion, they addressed issues such as relations between Spain and the Holy See, migration, and education.
The second meeting took place on October 11, 2024, also with Francis, and was marked by the situation in the Middle East and the migration crisis that particularly affected the Canary Islands.