Pope Leo XIV Draws Over a Million Faithful to Mass in Madrid, Urges Revival of Catholic Faith in Spain
More than a million worshippers packed Madrid's streets on Sunday for a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV, who used the occasion to issue a passionate call for a revival of Catholic faith across Spain.
The service marked the second day of the pontiff's weeklong visit to the country, historically a bastion of Catholicism but one that has seen a sharp decline in religious practice in recent years—a trend mirrored across much of Western Europe.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia joined the crowds in the iconic Plaza de Cibeles, where devotees waving Spanish and Vatican flags filled the square for a service rich in liturgical symbolism.
In his homily, the Pope urged Spaniards not to view religion as "a museum of the past to be visited, but a school of faith from which to draw even today," a message tailored to a nation where Catholicism is increasingly seen as a cultural relic rather than a living practice.
According to a survey last month by the Centre for Sociological Research, an autonomous government body, about 56% of Spaniards now identify as Catholic, down from 90% in the 1970s. The decline has been accelerated by social secularization and high-profile scandals within the Church.
The event required a massive logistical and security operation. After the Mass, the Pope led a traditional procession along a route lined with white and yellow carnations—representing the Vatican flag colors.
Organizers reported more than 1.5 million attendees in and around the square, though the central government's representative in the Madrid region put the number at 1.1 million.
Nico Aldeanueva, a 28-year-old visitor from Philadelphia, described the Pope as "a very unifying force in a moment where we have division across so many different fronts."
"We have, it seems like, never-ending conflict, and for the time being here you get to hit pause and get to enjoy the moment and feel the faith," he said.
Ana Milagros, 64, waving a Vatican flag, said she found the U.S.-born Pope "approachable" and "very sincere."
"There is a lot of polarisation and differences in politics, in social matters, in the economy," she added. "The Pope is trying with this visit… to help all of us."
The visit comes at a sensitive time for the Church in Spain, where sexual abuse cases have further eroded trust in the institution. On Saturday, Pope Leo described the issue as "an open wound," but victim advocacy groups complained they were not invited to a planned meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican embassy in Madrid.
The Vatican has declined to confirm the time or location of the meeting, citing a need for "respect for the victims." Miguel Hurtado, a survivor, told Radio4 that the gathering was "strictly controlled by the Catholic hierarchy so that it doesn't look bad and does not affect the figure of the pope and the message they want to convey."
On Sunday evening, the Pope attended a cultural event at a Madrid arena featuring flamenco dancers and celebrities. Spanish Hollywood star Antonio Banderas highlighted the role of art in fostering faith, saying, "Art must be an alternative to violence."
"In a world that rushes by, that fragments, that sometimes becomes too simple, art helps us to recover depth and the soul, which AI, that must serve human beings and not the other way round, is trying to steal," Banderas added, drawing approving nods from the Pope.
Earlier in the trip, on Saturday, Pope Leo was greeted with full ceremony at the Royal Palace and joined 500,000 mostly young people outside Real Madrid's Bernabéu stadium for an evening prayer vigil.
The Pope is scheduled to visit Barcelona on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he will bless the recently completed tower of the Sagrada Familia basilica—now the world's tallest church. His itinerary concludes Thursday and Friday in the Canary Islands, with a focus on migration. The archipelago has become a key entry point for irregular arrivals, with thousands dying in the Atlantic each year attempting the crossing.
The visit underscores the Pope's effort to reconnect with a shrinking Catholic base while addressing modern challenges—from secularism and abuse scandals to migration and the role of technology in spiritual life.