Evangelization and closeness to migrants: A journey into the heart of Europe

By Andrea Tornielli

The seven-day Journey that Pope Leo XIV is preparing to undertake in Spain, which will take him to the capital Madrid, then Barcelona, and finally, the Canary Islands, is a pilgrimage into the heart of Europe. Rather, it is an Apostolic Journey whose three stages encapsulate the major challenges facing the Church on the continent.

This visit follows Pope Leo’s Apostolic Journeys to Türkiye and Lebanon, which were rich in ecumenical significance and dedicated to peace in the Land of the Cedars, where in recent months a devastating conflict has ravaged the population affected by Israeli bombardments.

It also follows his one-day Journey to the Principality of Monaco and the eleven-day Apostolic Journey in April to four African countries, a “missionary” pilgrimage which Pope Leo has said he wanted to be the first Apostolic Journey of his pontificate.

As Pope Leo embarks on his next Apostolic Journey on Saturday, the Successor of Peter now encounters a deeply polarized European society in the nation of Spain.

The first stop, Madrid, will be particularly marked by his meeting with members of Parliament. It will be an important opportunity to recall the perspective from which the Church views politics and commitment to the common good.

Today, this perspective is far removed both from any form of political alignment and from any attempt, encouraged by secularist ideology, to reduce Christian faith to a purely private and interior experience.

It is far removed from political alignment, because the Church, in order to remain true to herself and proclaim the Gospel, cannot and must not rely on power, establishing ties that ultimately obscure its mission. It is far removed from inward-looking religiosity, because faith is incarnational, and Christians are called to bear witness to the Gospel through concrete efforts to make society more humane, more just, and more attentive to those on the margins.

The Church in Spain, called to bear witness to a polyphonic unity in this age of polarization and confrontation, has endured, together with the entire Iberian people, the tragedy of civil war during the last century. Some of those wounds have not yet fully healed.

The question of how the Gospel is proclaimed today within a society deeply shaped by a great Christian tradition that forged its identity, yet which now appears increasingly secularized, will run throughout the Bishop of Rome’s entire pilgrimage.

In Barcelona, the visit to the magnificent Basilica of the Sagrada Família, during which Pope Leo will inaugurate the tallest tower, dedicated to Jesus Christ, contains a possible answer: through the language of beauty.

The Church has always spoken to everyone through art, and particularly through images. Throughout the centuries, countless lessons in the faith have been conveyed through frescoes, mosaics, and sculptures.

The Sagrada Família, the fruit of the faith and genius of a Catalan architect who died one hundred years ago and is now on the path to sainthood, stands as a powerful example of this language of beauty. Anyone who stands before the basilica is guided on a journey through the very essence of the Christian faith.

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The lesson of Venerable Antoni Gaudí is therefore profoundly relevant today, especially in our own time and for Europe, where the transmission of faith within the family has effectively been interrupted and where primary evangelization can no longer be taken for granted.

Finally, the stop in Gran Canaria and Tenerife will allow the Pope to witness firsthand the drama experienced by migrants. 

Those who survive the crossing arrive at Europe’s doors, even though the continent often fails to respond to this crisis in a coordinated and organized way, leaving the countries most exposed to handle it on their own—Spain is certainly one of them.

It is well known that a visit to the Canary Islands was a desire expressed by Pope Francis, a desire that his successor, Pope Leo, is now bringing to fulfillment.

Last October, Pope Leo XIV published the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, the fruit of work that had begun during the previous pontificate. That text highlighted the connection between Christ’s love and His call for us to draw close to the poor, the marginalized, the suffering, and the “strangers” mentioned by Jesus in the Gospel.

In Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnifica humanitas, the Pope calls on us “to look at the world from a lower position: through the eyes of those who suffer rather than the mighty; to view history through the eyes of the little ones, rather than through the perspective of the powerful; to interpret the events of history from the viewpoint of the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the wounded child, the exile and the fugitive.”

The Pope’s stop in the Canary Islands therefore enters into the living reality of the sufferings of the least among us, issuing a call to Christians to bear evangelical witness.

At the same time, it is a call to responsibility for everyone: the responsibility to remain human.