«We cannot believe in Jesus and go to war. We cannot believe in Jesus and kill the innocent. We cannot believe in Jesus and abandon those who suffer, those who cry, those who flee from poverty.”
The height of the tower of Jesus and the cross above it, the inauguration of which he celebrates, are the opportunity for Pope Leo to redefine the high and low of Christian grammar. In front of the royals of Spain, Felipe and Letizia, the president of the government Pedro Sanchez, hundreds of faithful in the basilica but ideally, between big screens and live TV, all of Spain and the whole world, the Pope spells out clear words: «The Cross of Christ, placed on top of this basilica, is the cross of the last who become first, of sinners who become saints, of the dead who will be resurrected».
It is the culmination of Pope Leo’s day in Barcelona, the second stage of his trip to Spain where he once again made appeals for harmony and the overcoming of divisions. “We renounce offences, hasty judgements, slander and slander”, even on social networks’ he says of the Abbey of Montserrat in the late morning. To immediately add: “Let us lay aside the armor that has gradually hardened the heart”, Jesus “does not wear armour”, “let us resume the path of mercy, reconciliation, truth”.
«At the same time», Jesus «unmasks the violence that can hide in our words and our attitudes: the criticism that humiliates, the condemnation that destroys and the aggression that divides», “hidden violence can often take on apparent armor with which we try to protect our wounds».
“The dignity of man does not depend on the wealth he accumulates” he says instead in the afternoon, meeting the most marginal fringes of the Catalan capital in the characteristic and difficult neighborhood of Raval. Pressed by questions from a 6-year-old boy, Renzo, the Pope also confesses that “he didn’t think of being a Pontiff” and takes the opportunity of the Football World Cup which starts tomorrow to launch a new message: “Football reminds us of something that we must not forget: life is not a competition to show off alone, but a path that we learn to travel together. Anyone who doesn’t know how to pass the ball, even if they are talented, hasn’t understood the game yet. And those who do not know how to live with others and for others have not yet understood life.” However, amidst new crowds and ovations, there are still those who protest and are not satisfied.
This is Miguel Hurtado, victim of abuse by the Spanish clergy in the Montserrat Abbey and founder of the ‘Reparacion Integral Yà’ movement (immediate integral reparation for the victims), present at the monastery, but even today excluded from a face-to-face meeting with the pontiff. “Leo