Vatican Pope

Pope Leo XIV is urging Spaniards to stop “fanning the flames of polarization” as he arrived in Spain. Leo opened his weeklong trip in Madrid and was greeted at the airport by King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Leo visited Spain dozens of times before as a priest. But this visit is the first by a pope in 15 years. It signals Leo is returning papal attention to Europe’s Christian roots after Pope Francis largely stayed away from the traditional centers of Christianity in favor of smaller Catholic communities farther away. It’s a moment of political turmoil for the Socialist-led government and a credibility crisis for the Catholic Church.