Key moments
- Pope’s agenda for this Sunday
Leo XIV has already left the Nunciature headquarters to attend the Corpus Christi mass that he will officiate in Cibeles square, in front of the Madrid City Council building. Before the religious service, around 9:30, the Pontiff will make a tour in the popemobile, from the Ramiro de Maeztu Institute, on Serrano street, until reaching Cibeles Square, passing through Goya street and Colón square. Pope Leo XIV begins the second day of his trip to Spain this Sunday in Madrid. He will do so by presiding over the Corpus Christi procession and a mass in Cibeles, which is expected to be attended by the King and Queen, Princess Leonor, Infanta Sofía and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, among other authorities. Thousands of people are already gathered in the central square, where the service is scheduled to begin at 10:00. The organization has reported that some 300,000 people have registered, although it is believed that the number of attendees in the surrounding areas will be much higher. Before, the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, will present him with a key to the city. At 18:00, the Pontiff will meet with representatives of culture, art, economy and sport at the Movistar Arena in the ‘Weaving Networks’ (Tejer redes) meeting.
- Affected streets and areas in Madrid and Barcelona.
- Interactive agenda of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Spain by days and cities
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Pope’s Travels
A crowd of young people gathers around Leo XIV: “The amount of people here is amazing”
Around 500,000 people filled Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid this Saturday afternoon, waiting for those five fleeting seconds when they could see the Pope up close and then listen to his sermon. Most were young Catholics from all over the country, who came from four in the afternoon to the vigil to pray, share and, why not, also to gossip and flirt. Leo XIV arrived around 8:30 PM and entrusted them with a mission that sounds simple: “Be human.” The Pontiff spoke to the crowd in Spanish and asked them: “Be men and women of flesh and blood. Not appearances, but reliable faces. People who seek justice, who desire an honest and upright life.”
You can read the full information here
The Pope leaves the Nunciature to attend the Cibeles mass
Leo XIV has already left the Nunciature headquarters to attend the Corpus Christi mass that he will officiate in Cibeles square, in front of the Madrid City Council building. Before the religious service, the Pontiff will make a tour in the popemobile, from the Ramiro de Maeztu Institute, on Serrano street, where he has just arrived, to Cibeles square, passing through Goya street and Colón square.
A cultural center converted to consecrate hosts for the Cibeles mass
The Fernán Gómez cultural center, in Madrid’s Colón square, has been converted this Sunday into a chapel to consecrate part of the hosts that will be distributed at the mass the Pope will celebrate in Cibeles and to organize some of the communion ministers from here.
Along with the five churches in the area —the parish of San José, the basilica of Jesús de Medinaceli, the parish of San Jerónimo el Real, the parish of San Manuel y San Benito and the parish of Santa Bárbara—, this cultural center is one of the places enabled to consecrate the hosts for the mass. The wafers were consecrated in a prior mass at eight in the morning.
“It is impossible for the Pope to consecrate all the forms (…) this method is more agile and faster,” explains Javier Gutiérrez, a lay person responsible for the provisional chapel installed in one of the theater halls of the Fernán Gómez cultural center.
At the entrance of the cultural center, Javier has been distributing, along with a team of people, the wooden crosses that will identify the communion ministers, who have been arriving at this point since seven thirty in the morning, identifying themselves to cross their names off a list.
Among the approximately 200 ministers assigned to this cultural center are lay people, priests, nuns, and seminarians like Sergio, 24, from the diocese of Ibiza, for whom being able to give communion is “a great joy and responsibility,” even more so at a mass like this Sunday’s, officiated by the Pope.
At the mass that Leo XIV will preside over for the feast of Corpus Christi, 460,000 consecrated hosts are expected to be distributed at the various designated points by 500 priests and 1,800 extraordinary ministers. They will do so with the help of volunteer teams who will deploy umbrellas in the places where communion will be given. (EFE)
Sofía Maruri, one of the volunteers collaborating in the organization of the mass in Cibeles
Sofía Maruri is one of the volunteers who signed up to collaborate in the organization of the mass in Cibeles. She is from Uruguay, she came to Madrid a few months ago to do a doctorate in human rights at the Complutense University. “I study, research, teach classes and collaborate with several NGOs. Several friends told me they would participate and I signed up,” she says. Her mission this Sunday is to accompany one of the 2,300 priests who will give communion to the faithful with an umbrella. Next to Maruri there is a small pile of umbrellas and a large blue trunk with several “FRAGILE” labels and a small sign with the word “Comunión” written by hand.
Workers prepare the stage for the Cibeles mass, last Thursday. / Claudio Álvarez
A 600 m² stage, an enormous Christ, and a popemobile ride for a mass for hundreds of thousands of people
Both Cibeles Square and its surroundings are prepared to host up to nearly a million people for this event, which has about 380,000 registered people, according to the organizers announced this Saturday, who specify that this registration is not mandatory, so they expect attendance to be even higher.
As for the stage, the Cibeles altar is almost 600 square meters, with a large Christ —a replica of the Christ of the Sisters of Bethlehem—, hanging over the center of the altar. There will be 200 people including celebrants and companions in the presbytery. Then there will be the entire ring of authorities, priests and concelebrants, which will amount to about 5,000 people.
Attendees will be able to follow the mass through 42 screens. In addition, pending confirmation, it has been specified that the Pope will pass in the popemobile through practically all sectors on the map. The organizers announced that there will be a large staircase down which the Pope will descend to carry out the Corpus Christi procession.
Pope’s agenda for this Sunday
Pope Leo XIV faces this Sunday the second day of his apostolic journey to Spain which, after his stay in Madrid -from June 6 to 9-, will take him to Barcelona, Gran Canaria and Tenerife until June 12.
9:30 AM. The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, accompanied by municipal spokespersons, hands over the key to the city to Pope Leo XIV. Afterwards, the popemobile will depart from the Ramiro de Maeztu Institute, on Serrano street, to reach Cibeles Square. From Serrano, it will head to Goya street to reach Colón Square, from where it will connect with Cibeles.
10:00 AM. In Cibeles Square, the Holy Mass and the Corpus Christi procession will be celebrated. This event will be attended by the King and Queen, accompanied by their daughters. The attendance of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez; the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and the Vox spokesperson in Congress, Pepa Millán, among others, is also expected.
4:00 PM. The spokesperson for Reparación Integral Ya (RIYA) and first whistleblower in the Montserrat Abbey pedophilia case, Miguel Hurtado, performs a protest near the Apostolic Nunciature to denounce that victims have no official response as to whether Pope Leo XIV will meet with them during his visit to Spain.
4:30 PM. Prevost will have a private meeting with members of the Order of Saint Augustine at the Apostolic Nunciature. Afterwards, he will make another journey in the popemobile from the Nunciature to the Movistar Arena. He will depart from O’Donnell street and pass through Doctor Esquerdo and Goya street until reaching the Movistar Arena, on Avenida de Felipe II, in the Salamanca district.
6:00 PM. The Pontiff will meet with representatives of culture, art, economy and sport at the Movistar Arena in the ‘Weaving Networks’ (Tejer redes) meeting, which will combine artistic manifestations from the CAM Higher Music Conservatories, and personal testimonies of life in the big city.
7:30 PM. The Pope will dine at the residence of the cardinal archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo.
Pope’s Travels
A white and yellow flood like a Eurovision final, camp and pilgrimage
The Church has chosen a wonderful motto for Pope Leo XIV’s visit: lift your gaze. Convenient in Madrid, where one can lift their gaze and stumble upon extraordinary monuments and ancient buildings of strange beauty. Also, it is true, to gauge by eye the issue of housing in Madrid, the absurdity of land and apartment prices: lift your gaze, young people, and contemplate the prohibitive world that casts you out of the city.
You can read the full article here
Elena Cabiedas (parishioner): “It’s a historic event”
Elena Cabiedas, 29, has a large Vatican City flag hanging from her backpack. Despite having slept little last night, she seems energetic. She woke up at four in the morning to get to her spot at the Cibeles mass. “It’s a historic event,” she says. Beside her, a child holding a stuffed monkey snuggles up to her, with a shy look. They arrived from Yepes, a town in Toledo, yesterday afternoon, to go to the youth vigil and went to sleep at two in the morning. “He is a modern and wise Pope. This has been seen with his encyclical on Artificial Intelligence. I believe he will give us many lessons,” Cabiedas comments with a smile.
POPE’S TRAVELS
Powerful speech by Pope Leo XIV with political overtones on his first day of visit to Spain
The Pontiff has addressed polarization with phrases aimed at the far-right and has committed to fighting against cases of abuse in the Church.
You can read the full information here
The Pope bursts into the Spanish political debate with a clear plea against polarization and the far-right
The first apostolic visit of a Pope to Spain in 15 years began this Saturday with a deep charge against polarization, the far-right, and discrimination. Spanish politics received a concentrated dose of Leo XIV in a matter of hours, and it can almost be said that it is still assimilating it, because there have been hardly any reactions, it is only commented on in offices. On his first day in Madrid, where he arrived at 10:30 AM on Saturday, the Pope immediately deployed an arsenal of ideas and arguments that leave little doubt about what he thinks. Despite his timid nature, in the solemnity of the Royal Palace and with all authorities and the political class present, he unreservedly exercised the moral leadership that everyone says he possesses, so that everyone can apply the lesson to themselves.
You can read the full information here
Parishioners gathered in Cibeles square in Madrid, this Sunday. / Mohammed Salem / REUTERS
Thousands of people gather in Cibeles for the Pope’s mass
The first attendees at the Cibeles mass are beginning to take their places. The organization has reported that some 300,000 people have registered, although it is believed that the number of attendees in the surrounding areas will be much higher. The Eucharist will begin at 10 AM, and it is expected that 500 priests will concelebrate with the pontiff and another 2,300 people will give communion to the faithful. More than 20,000 volunteers are working for the celebration of this event.
Good morning. The second day of Leo XIV’s trip to Spain begins with a multitudinous mass in Cibeles square, coinciding with Corpus Christi. The subsequent procession, with the 16th-century monstrance from the Madrid City Council, will close the morning. At 6:00 PM, Leo XIV returns to the public space at the Movistar Arena for the ‘Weaving Networks’ (Tejer redes) event, a meeting with representatives from the world of culture, art, economy, and sport, presented by journalists Lara Síscar and Carlos Franganillo.
