The recent visit of Pope Leo XIV to Spain, from 6 to 12 June, was an event of communion, hope and a call to renew faith in the midst of the world. In Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, the Daughters of Charity and members of the Vincentian Family, including the Vincentian Marian Youth (VMY), were present to welcome the Holy Father’s message and to reread it in the light of the Vincentian charism.
In Madrid, it was impressive to see so many young people gathered with enthusiasm to welcome the Pope, celebrate their faith and share it with joy. The vigil revealed a youth who, beyond the strength of a large-scale event, desired to celebrate their faith and hear a word capable of giving direction to life. The following day, the Eucharist of Corpus Christi gathered more than one million people, making visible a faith that goes out into the streets and gathers around Christ. The other encounters with the Christian community also recalled that the Church cannot remain closed in on herself. For the Daughters of Charity, for VMY and for the whole Vincentian Family, Madrid left a clear call: to live a joyful, open and missionary faith, celebrated before the Lord and extended in close presence, humble service and daily commitment.
In Barcelona, the motto of the visit found a particularly eloquent image in the Sagrada Família and in the blessing of the Tower of Jesus Christ. Lifting up our gaze to Christ does not mean turning away from reality, but learning to look at the world from Him. Therefore, together with the beauty and symbolic power of the basilica, the encounters with people deprived of liberty and with charitable and social assistance initiatives recalled that Christian faith is best expressed through closeness to those who suffer. For the Vincentian Family, Barcelona united contemplation and service: to look at Christ in order to recognise Him afterwards in every vulnerable face.
In the Canary Islands, the visit placed at the centre one of the deepest wounds of our time: migration. By the sea, in Arguineguín, the Pope recalled that lives arrive there wounded and stripped of almost everything, but never of their dignity. His words were a call to stop looking at migrants as numbers or problems, and to recognise them as brothers and sisters. For the Daughters of Charity, present on so many frontiers of poverty, this message confirms the heart of the mission: to welcome, accompany and defend the dignity of every person.
This visit leaves us with a simple and demanding invitation: to lift up our gaze to Christ in order then to go down to meet our brothers and sisters, with humble, concrete and prompt charity.
