Secular organizations call protest against use of public resources to finance visit of Pope Leo XIV 

The Ferrer i Guàrdia Foundation, Europa Laica and Ateus de Catalunya (Atheists of Catalonia), three organizations promoting secularity in Spain, are organizing a rally for June 9 in El Born as part of the 'I'm not waiting for you' campaign. 

Representatives from the three entities are making a stand against the use of public resources to fund the visit of Pope Leo XIV. 

The manifesto of the campaign, 'For secularism and against the public privileges of the pope's visit', argues that the visit of the pope is not that serious, considering the Church "violates civil rights" because it opposes abortion and euthanasia. 

They also argue that the church has a debt to memory because it has not apologized for the part it played during the Franco dictatorship and coup leading to his rise to power.

Furthermore, the manifesto highlights that the institution maintains a patriarchal structure, as it relegates women to "secondary and subordinate" roles. 

The manifesto makes it clear that the concern is that "a religious visit is treated by the institutions as a State visit." The use of public resources implies as much, so they seek to make a stand. 

The president of Ateus de Catalunya, Albert Riba, criticized the pope's visit to Congress and argued that the pope "is not a democrat" as elections are not held in the Vatican and women aren't given a voice. 

On June 9 at 7pm in the El Born neighbourhood of Barcelona, the 'I'm not waiting for you' campaign will "reaffirm our commitment to secularism," as stated in their manifesto.