Overview
- An open-air Corpus Christi Mass in Madrid on Sunday drew organizers' estimate of about 1.2 million people and featured 16 floral carpets laid by Galician florists.
- A youth vigil the night before attracted roughly 500,000–600,000 young people, showing unusually large popular turnout for a papal visit in secularized Spain.
- In a first-ever papal address to Spain’s parliament on Monday, Pope Leo urged respect for migrants, adherence to international law, a push for diplomacy over rearmament, and ethical oversight of military AI.
- The Vatican confirmed a private, nearly hour-long meeting with six survivors of clerical sexual abuse, responding to public demands for engagement while broader calls for transparent accountability remain unresolved.
- The trip continues to Barcelona and the Canary Islands with events focused on pastoral outreach to migrants and memorials for Atlantic crossing victims, a sequence that could sharpen public debate over migration policy and the Church’s response to abuse.