Pope Leo visits Canary Islands to meet migrants

In Barcelona, the Pope presided over an evening rally for Spain's youth, drawing an estimated 40,000 people. The event featured a frank discussion of difficult topics, including depression, domestic violence, and toxic family relationships. Several young attendees shared personal stories, prompting the Pope to thank them for their honesty and to blame societal demands for perfection and the silencing of suffering for youth malaise. He compared the "silent illness" of depression to the suffering of Christ and identified abusive families as a significant problem.

Pope Leo XIV urged young people to find solace in their faith and demanded better health services and care for mental health problems and domestic violence. He emphasized a message of hope for Spain's youth, a country with a strong secular bent but recent indications of increasing spiritual interest among young adults. The Pope also spoke in Catalan during the prayer vigil and will inaugurate the Tower of Jesus Christ at Sagrada Familia basilica on Wednesday.