vatican

Last serving president to meet a pontiff was Jordi Pujol in 1981

Leftist pro-independence youth organization Arran claims responsibility for branding of Seu d'Urgell building in Catalan Pyrenees

Society of Jesus impose series of prohibitions on Pere Sala following investigation into allegations by two former pupils

Spanish government to complain to Vatican over diplomatic "interference" as it continues its efforts to move dictator's remains

Catalans are holding their municipal elections on Sunday, while the elections to the Catalan Parliament are to be held in September, as opposed to other parts of Spain, where they are voting for their regional parliaments on Sunday. These municipal elections come after 7 years of economic crisis and also with very uncertain political horizons. Two debates have dominated the campaign: Catalonia’s independence and the rise of new or secondary parties that promise to change the current model. For many people in Catalonia, Sunday’s elections will be a first stage of the ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence that is going to take place with the Catalan elections on 27 September. It is also the opportunity to support changing the current political, economic and social model, with the rise of alternative left coalitions. Furthermore, majorities and town halls go through significant changes, particularly in Barcelona and the cities of its Metropolitan Area, where there are no clear winners forecast and surprises are likely to happen.

A FC Barcelona delegation led by President Josep Maria Bartomeu was in the Vatican City on Thursday to sign an agreement between the Catalan club’s Foundation and the Scholas Occurrentes charity - network of schools being promoted by the pontiff – to set up joint educational actions to promote values. Barça is the first sports club in the world to make such a deal. FC Barcelona was also represented by vice-president Jordi Cardoner, the vice-presidents of the Foundation, Ramon Pont and Ramon Cierco and director Pau Vilanova.

Within a year, Pope Francis’ Twitter account, @Pontifex, has reached 12 million followers while his tweets are 4 times more re-tweeted than the ones of U.S. President Barack Obama. Indeed, each of Pope Francis’ messages generates an average of 6,637 re-tweets, while Obama’s messages are re-tweeted 2,309 times on average. Such data was unveiled on Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which is the main international event of cell phone related technologies. After analyzing the Pope’s impact on the digital environment, the study ‘The Internet loves Pope Francis’ concludes that Pope Francis is the world leader with the greatest influence in social networks, above the Dalai Lama or Cristina Kirchner.

An exhibition on Barcelona’s Sagrada Família Basilica and Antoni Gaudí’s architectural techniques are on show in the Vatican. It focuses on the art, science and spirituality displayed at the Catalan architect’s church. Pope Benedict XVI declared the Sagrada Família a basilica one year ago during a visit to Barcelona. At the time he commented on the beauty of the temple and spoke of his personal admiration for the work of Gaudí.