Pope greets devotees in Catalan outside cathedral

Pope Leo XIV greeted the 6,000 faithful devotees outside the Barcelona Cathedral after giving the middle hour prayer in the temple after arriving in Catalonia.

The pontiff left the cathedral accompanied by the cardinal and archbishop of Barcelona, ​​Joan Josep Omella, and addressed a few brief words to the people gathered there.

He began the speech with "bon dia i bona ora,” a salute in Catalan meaning "good day".

The pontiff mixed Catalan and Spanish to thank those present “for their patience”, “for their joy” and for being there.

“Let us all celebrate faith in Christ. Jesus Christ has called us to live in one people blessed in faith. May God bless you all,” he said.

Leo XIV left with an “adeu, ciao.”

He then entered the cloister of the cathedral and then headed to the Episcopal Palace, right next to the Barcelona cathedral, which will be his residence for the next two days in Catalonia.

There, as an additional surprise, he appeared on the balcony to greet the crowd once again. From there, he said that the "Father, Son and Holy Spirit will always accompany you."

"Go to lunch and see you in the afternoon," he concluded.

Prayer in Catalan

Just before greeting the faithful outside the temple, Leo XIV offered a prayer inside, again mixing Catalan and Spanish.

In it, he urged Christians to embrace peace, and said that Catalans have a "vocation to become builders of unity."

In his first sermon in Catalonia, he called on the faithful to "renounce the superfluous and build what is essential."

"In a world torn by wars and divisions, in an increasingly fragmented and individualistic society, we want to be martyrs, that is, witnesses and prophets of unity, embrace, concord and peace, even at the cost of sacrifices and renunciations", he said.

He admitted that in every community there are "stronger members and weaker ones, some visible, who perform obvious functions to the outside, others hidden, who act from within, in some cases without ever stopping and fulfilling vital functions, without anyone even noticing."

The pontiff said that Barcelona "has a great tradition of the Church" and quoted Pope John Paul II during his visit to the Catalan capital in 1982, when he praised "the welcoming spirit that throughout history has led the people of Barcelona and Catalans to share human and Christian citizenship with so many people".