MADRID: Pope Leo XIV called for a global response to the “tragic drama” of migration and said world peace was a “true global imperative” in an unprecedented address to the Spanish parliament on Monday.
The pope also urged lawmakers to defend life “from conception to its natural end.”
In his address to parliament, he called for “safe and legal pathways” for immigration and for migrants to be given “a respectful welcome and real opportunities for integration.”
“The tragic drama of migration ... challenges the conscience of nations and the ethical foundation of the international order today,” he said.
In contrast with many of its European allies, Spain under Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has a relatively liberal immigration policy.
But the government is under pressure on the issue from the main conservative Popular Party and from far-right party Vox, now the nation’s third-largest political force.
The pope’s seven-day visit to Spain will include a trip to the Canary Islands. The Spanish archipelago has become one of the main entry points for irregular migrants into Europe.
The pope also called for “patient dialogue” instead of conflict and rearmament in Europe and beyond.
“Weapons may impose a temporary silence but they can never build a genuine and lasting peace,” he said.
Lawmakers gave the pontiff a lengthy standing ovation.
After welcoming the pope on Saturday, Spanish King Felipe VI hailed his “clarity and firmness” on the issue, saying they were “essential in the process of healing and reparation of the damage inflicted.”
On Sunday, the pope celebrated an open-air mass in central Madrid that was attended by more than 1.5 million people.
He will hold another large gathering at football club Real Madrid’s famed Bernabeu Stadium.
He will then travel to Barcelona, where on Wednesday he will bless the new tower of the Sagrada Familia Basilica — a still-unfinished masterpiece by revered architect Antoni Gaudi that recently became the world’s tallest church.
The visit will conclude on Thursday and Friday in the Canary Islands, where the pope will be joined by Sanchez.
