Pope Leo XIV visited the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat in Barcelona on Tuesday, where he led the recitation of the Holy Rosary before the image of the Virgin of Montserrat, popularly known as “La Moreneta”.
The visit to the shrine took place after the Pontiff’s morning meeting with inmates at Brians 1 prison. Leo XIV then traveled by helicopter to Montserrat, where he was received by the Bishop of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Monsignor Xabier Gómez García, and by the Abbot of the monastery, Manel Gasch i Hurios.
Nearly a thousand children awaited him in the basilica’s atrium. After entering the church, the Pope prayed for a few moments in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and then proceeded to the presbytery, where the Rosary was prayed.
“La Moreneta has always accompanied me”
During his address, Leo XIV recalled his personal bond with the Virgin of Montserrat, whom he came to know especially during his years as parish priest at the parish of Santa María de Montserrat in Trujillo, Peru.
“La Moreneta has always accompanied me. Thank you, Catalonia, for your faith,” the Pontiff declared, reading some passages of his speech in Catalan.
The Pope said he was glad to be able to come to the feet of the Virgin of Montserrat to entrust to her his Petrine ministry and the Church’s mission in a world that, he said, “cries out for justice and peace”.
Mary leads to Christ
Leo XIV also recalled that Montserrat has for centuries been a place of devotion, gratitude and hope, but also a space marked by the witness of those who shed their blood for love of Jesus Christ.
The Pontiff quoted his predecessor, Pope Francis, who in 2023 offered the Golden Rose to the Virgin of Montserrat and recalled that Mary is fundamental in the life of every Christian.
In this regard, Leo XIV invited the faithful to embrace the Virgin’s words at the wedding in Cana: “Do whatever He tells you.” He explained that this phrase contains a true program for Christian living, because Mary always leads to Christ and teaches us to listen to His voice.
A call to avoid division
In his speech, the Pope stated that Jesus “shows us the way of mercy, reconciliation, truth and meekness.” At the same time, he warned against “the violence that can hide in our words and attitudes: the criticism that humiliates, the condemnation that destroys, and the aggression that divides.”
Leo XIV asked the Virgin to teach Christians to “renounce hurtful words, hasty judgments, gossip and slander.”
He also urged them to cultivate love “in the family, among friends, in the workplace, on social media, in political debates and in Christian communities,” so that “hatred may give way to hope and peace.”
“May communion be stronger than every division”
The Pope invited the faithful to contemplate the Virgin of Montserrat presenting Jesus as a defenseless child in her lap. From that image, he asked them to lay aside “the armor that has gradually hardened the heart.”
Leo XIV stressed that Mary invites Christians to recognize one another as brothers and sisters, “where no one is excluded and where communion is stronger than every division.”
At the end of his address, the Pontiff invited those present to pray: “Of the Catalans you will always be the Princess, of the Spaniards and of the whole world all the love; say to us: ‘You are my treasure, I am your mother, do not be afraid.’”
Greeting from the balcony
After the blessing, the singing of the Salve Regina and the Virolai, Leo XIV withdrew for a few moments to pray in the Virgin’s chapel.
He then greeted the faithful gathered in the square from the monastery balcony and thanked Catalonia for its welcome, also highlighting the work of the Benedictine community of Montserrat in receiving pilgrims who come to the shrine to pray before the Virgin.