Pope gives prayer vigil at Olympic Stadium in front of 40,000 devotees

Around 40,000 devotees have gathered at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium for the prayer vigil with the Pope on Tuesday evening.

Pope Leo XIV asked “that this country be a welcoming space for everyone,” where each person “is respected in their dignity as a person and loved for who they are,” during his prayers.

The pontiff called for dialogue, the search for truth and the common good, and asked to look “with humility and without prejudice” at social reality to ask “what we are called to change” and what kind of society we want to build.

Leo XIV appealed to the “old and new poverty” of cities and society, and placed the dignity of people at the centre of his message. “Let us not stop searching, questioning ourselves and dialogue, with God and among ourselves, even in the dead of night,” he said.

The Pope defended a faith capable of “harmonizing the diversity” of ideas and sensibilities, and linked this attitude to the search for a truth oriented towards the common good. 

The sermon also included reflections on difficult personal, ecclesial, and social situations. Leo XIV warned that crises should not be read only as a failure, but also as an opportunity to change and renew oneself.

According to the pontiff, these moments must be faced without closing oneself off in judgment or resignation, but rather as the beginning of a “new life.”

In answering the questions of three young people, the Pope used more Catalan than had been expected.

The prayer vigil filled the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium in an atmosphere of celebration and anticipation. Before the Pope's sermon, attendees participated in various moments of music, prayer and testimonies, in one of the central events on Leo XIV's agenda in Barcelona.

The earliest of the faithful and curious started to arrive shortly after 4pm when doors opened, with musical performances starting at 6pm.

Shortly before 8pm, the Holy Father arrived at the stadium, stopping to speak with people and take photographs at the doors of the venue before entering. 

For his arrival, the Castellers de Vilafranca performed a human tower while he was welcomed by the Cardinal and Archbishop of Barcelona, ​​Joan Josep Omella.

Leo XIV delivered a few words after the reading of the Gospel and the event culminated with performances by the Escolania de Montserrat and Sergio Dalma and a tour of the Stadium by the Pope.

"A Pope for peace"

"I'm very excited," Gemma from Barcelona told Catalan News as she queued to enter the stadium. "I love being able to see the Pope. I love him very much," she added.

Her three friends – Nina, Susanna and Oscar – shared her enthusiasm.

"It's really exciting to welcome the Pope to our city," Nina said.

"I'm also really happy because he's the Vicar of Christ. He brings the Church together, and seeing so many Catholics united is just beautiful," Susanna said.

Oscar said he had already spent several days following the Pope in Madrid.

"So this is the fourth day. I'm really happy, honestly, that it's happening here in Catalonia and in the Catalan capital," he said.

Africa, also from Barcelona, told Catalan News that she "came here to see what he has to tell us and how it resonates with me."

Before becoming Pope Leo XIV, Chicago-born Robert Prevost was granted Peruvian citizenship after decades living and working in the country.

"It's a source of pride and an honour to have a Pope, a major ecclesiastical authority in the world, who is Peruvian," said Ranulfo Fuentes Rojas, a teacher originally from Ayacucho, Peru, who has lived in Barcelona for 23 years.

"A very simple, humble Pope, very willing, who will fight for peace, freedom and justice," he added.

Marc Majà, a priest from the Diocese of Solsona said: "I hope that both on a personal level, for each of us who is here, and on a Church and community level, being together, praying together with the Pope and listening to what the Pope has to say will be an experience that gives us renewed momentum, that becomes a channel through which the Holy Spirit helps us become more faithful to what God wants from us."

Barcelona Cathedral

The Pope arrived in Barcelona earlier on Tuesday afternoon, and said a prayer in the Barcelona Cathedral, before offering a few words of Catalan in greetings to people outside.