Pope Leo XIV to visit Sagrada Família and Montserrat on June 10

Pope Leo XIV will visit Barcelona's Sagrada Família and the Monastery of Montserrat on June 10, the second day of his three-day stay in Catalonia, according to organisers.

Sources involved in planning the visit said the Catalan leg will not include large open-air masses, although services may be held in indoor venues. The Vatican is expected to publish the final programme for the pope's trip to Spain later this week or next week.

In Barcelona, a press centre with capacity for around 500 journalists is being prepared near the Sagrada Família, one of the main focal points of the pope's visit to the Catalan capital.

The three-day stay in Catalonia will be the second stop on Leo XIV's visit to Spain, scheduled for June 6–12.

He will first travel to Madrid, where he will preside over a Sunday mass marking Corpus Christi, following the feast on Thursday, June 4.

The pontiff is due to arrive in Catalonia on the morning of June 9 and remain until June 11, before heading to the Canary Islands for the final leg of the trip, which will conclude on the afternoon of June 12.

Organisers confirmed that the pope will hold at least two "massive" open-air masses: one in Madrid on Sunday, June 7, and another in Tenerife, which will serve as the closing event of the visit. 

While the full schedule has yet to be released, the trip already includes three key religious and political events.

These include the commemoration of the centenary of Antoni Gaudí’s death and the inauguration of the Sagrada Família's Tower of Jesus; a visit to Montserrat monastery – the second by a pope in modern times after John Paul II's pilgrimage in 1982 – and a speech by Leo XIV before the Spanish Congress on June 8, making him the first pope to exercise a prerogative reserved for heads of state.

Government steps up preparations

The Catalan government has begun preparing for the visit, agreeing last week to set up an Institutional Committee, led by President Salvador Illa, and an Executive Committee, with representatives from the Catalan government, the Spanish government, Barcelona City Council and the Archdiocese of Barcelona.