Pope Leo is urging Spaniards to put aside “narratives” during the first papal visit in 15 years.

Pope Leo XIV urged Spaniards on Saturday to stop “fanning the flames of racism” as he arrived in Spain amid political turmoil in the Socialist-led government and a crisis over the Catholic Church’s credibility.

I The American Popewho has Spanish ancestors, has been to Spain many times as a priest, but this is the first papal visit in 15 years. It shows that Leo is returning the pope’s attention to the roots of Christianity in Europe after Pope Francis distanced himself from the traditional centers of Christianity in favor of small Catholic communities far away.

Leo appears determined to bring his message of peace, unity and human dignity to a continent deeply divided by migration, Russia’s war in Ukraine and concerns over artificial intelligence.

The Pope opened his week-long visit to Madrid, where he was greeted at the airport by the monarchs of the Catholic world, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, and He told reporters, during the trip, that he was very happy with the reports of the spiritual awakening of the youth in a country that was once fanatical about Catholics but now no longer believes.

Pope Leo speaks against polarization

In his welcome speech, Leo urged the Spanish people, especially the political leaders, to put aside conflicts and invest in teaching young people to value diversity and complexity rather than avoid it.

“Today, the temptation to gain fame by fanning the flames of apartheid seems to be increasing rather than decreasing, and human dignity continues to be violated,” said Leo.

He called on Spain’s place in the center of Christian Europe to serve as a model for the rest of the continent, while remembering the 800 years of the Moors, when cities like Toledo and Córdoba became, he said, “centers of dialogue between languages, religions and knowledge.”

“For the love of truth, I invite everyone to put aside divisive and divisive issues about the truth of your community and history,” he said. Doing so will help Europe “overcome sterile simplification with a fruitful appreciation of complexity.”

Spaniards find themselves divided over issues including immigration, feminism and political corruption, historically fueled by libertarian movements.

The highlight of Leo’s visit to Madrid will be his speech on Monday to both chambers of the Spanish Parliament, the first by a pope. Such speeches are rare and often one of the most important in a pontificate.

But Leo will find a highly divided legislature, with the ruling Socialist Party hit by a series of corruption scandals. Conservative parties, including the Popular Party and far right Voxthey called for Sánchez to step down before the 2027 elections and strongly criticized his government’s immigration policies.

Spain’s Socialist-led government has bucked a general trend in Europe and the United States by announcing it will grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of immigrants living and working in the country without permits. Sánchez highlighted the benefits of legal immigration to the country’s economy with an aging labor force and low birth rate.

A renewed interest in all forms of spirituality

Despite the expected protests of Leo’s visit, his speech especially in the Parliament is an important part of the Catholic Church of Spain. Influenced by the violence against the clergy of the country’s civil war of 1936-1939, more recently, it has faced a crisis of credibility due to the revelation of decades of torture and cover-up of the clergy.

While much of Europe has abandoned the faith in recent decades, Spain stands out after experiencing a religious crisis following the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975. A devout Catholic, Franco viewed his rule as something of a crusade against the opposition, leftist and secularist parties in Spain.

As Spain transitions to a democratic government, the percentage of Spaniards who identified themselves as Catholic will drop from 90% in the 1970s to 55% in 2025, according to polling data collected by a Spanish state opinion poll. Of that group, only 19% say they go to Mass regularly.

And yet there are signs of renewed interest in all forms of spirituality, Christian and otherwise, especially among young Spaniards, said sociologist Narciso Michavila Núñez, president of the GAD3 consulting company that investigates young people about their faith, among other things.

In a recent survey, he said, voters registered a new interest in faith among Gen Z Spaniards. Michavila and others cited the popularity of pop star Rosalía’s new album “Lux,” which is deeply spiritual.

“The truth from a common point of view is not that God is in fashion. What is new in this moment, in this papal visit, is that God in Spanish society is no longer a tattoo,” he said.