Maria-Pia Negro Chin

Mamá y esposa. Spanish Editor at OSV News. Views are my own.

[Courtney Mares @catholicourtney]

Our Lady of Montserrat, pray for us!

[Courtney Mares @catholicourtney]

Pope Leo XIV just entrusted his ministry and the Church’s mission to Our Lady of Montserrat, noting his personal connection to the Marian devotion.

"I hold a fond memory of my years as parish priest of the Parish of Santa María de Montserrat in Trujillo, Peru,” he said.

“La Moreneta has always accompanied me.”

[OSV News @OSVNews]

Amid the loneliness and despair of life behind bars, God continues to love and encourage the imprisoned to not let the sorrows of their past deter them from the hope of a better future, Pope Leo XIV told prisoners in Barcelona.

Speaking to inmates and prison ministry volunteers at the Brians 1 Penitentiary June 10, the pope reminded them that when faced with the temptation “to feel inferior and think it is not worth going on,” prisoners should lift up their eyes to God, who, “through the presence of so many people, never ceases to show you his love and closeness.

https://t.co/E9fZa5AJYE

[OSV News @OSVNews]

Pope Leo XIV listened to deeply personal testimonies from young people grappling with depression, family trauma and questions of faith on his first day in Barcelona at Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, telling a crowd of tens of thousands that God does not abandon those who suffer, even when his presence feels most distant.

The event, held at the main venue for the 1992 Summer Olympics on the hill of Montjuïc overlooking Barcelona’s harbor. The stadium has a capacity of more than 55,000.

Cheers erupted as the pope passed through the stadium in the popemobile and blessed babies before taking questions from several young people whose stories reflected some of the most difficult dimensions of human experience.

Read the full story by @catholicourtney: https://t.co/W9s49TwQIv

[OSV News @OSVNews]

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Barcelona June 9 for a two-day visit coinciding with the centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí, the famed architect behind the Sagrada Família, or the Basilica of the Holy Family.

After landing from Madrid, the pope's first public stop was Barcelona's Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia, where he prayed in Catalan, saying, "Santa Maria de la Mercè, pregueu per nosaltres," meaning "Our Mary of Mercy, pray for us."

https://t.co/msIPUbDG61

[OSV News @OSVNews]

Pope Leo XIV 🤝 Bad Bunny

Pope Leo briefly met Bad Bunny at the Bernabéu stadium with his family and some friends, the Vatican spokesperson said. Beyond confirming the meeting, the Vatican provided no further details or images.

Bad Bunny “comes from a Catholic family and he wanted to meet the pope, so the organizers found the place inside the Bernabéu stadium, as it was the only day (while the pope was in town) when there was no concert of Bad Bunny at the rival stadium of Atlético de Madrid,” Yago de la Cierva, general coordinator of the papal trip to Spain on behalf of the Spanish bishops, told OSV News.

“The deal was — meeting, yes, but no pictures — and Bad Bunny respected it,” de la Cierva told OSV News.

Read the full story: https://t.co/5LViXHmoF8

[OSV News @OSVNews]

With the June 6 grand reopening of the newly renovated Father Peyton Center in North Easton, Massachusetts, the faithful have a revitalized opportunity to again encounter the dynamic Holy Cross Father on track to sainthood.
https://t.co/fwDPqb8KLe

[OSV News @OSVNews]

Last night, Madrid’s famous Bernabéu soccer stadium, normally packed with fans of the @realmadrid football club, roared with cheers and songs of praise to the Lord as 80,000 Catholics prayed together with Pope Leo XIV.

In an unscripted moment at the start of the evening of testimony, music and prayer, @Pontifex joked, “I think that for a player, scoring a goal in this stadium is a major milestone in life. But … today, the Church in Madrid scored an amazing goal that will go down in history!”

The evening event in Bernabéu stadium was the final public engagement of the Madrid leg of the pope’s seven-day apostolic journey to Spain.
https://t.co/LEI03i3e6W

🎥: @catholicourtney #popeleoxiv #madrid #realmadrid #papaleónxiv #conelpapa

[OSV News @OSVNews]

Pope Leo arrives in Barcelona!

[Courtney Mares @catholicourtney]

In a sweeping address to the Spanish parliament, Pope Leo XIV delivered a forceful defense of the dignity of every human life, declaring that its protection is not a partisan issue but “a goal of civilization,” while addressing the issues of abortion, migration, freedom of conscience, the seal of confession and the Church’s role in public life.

“If life ceases to be recognized as a fundamental value, what future can our societies have? Can a community that casts into the shadows the unborn child, the elderly, the sick, those who suffer in silence, or those who depend entirely on the care of others be called fully just?” the pope asked the members of congress.

“The defense of human life is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilization,” he emphasized. “Every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence.”

“The moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to accompany, protect and love those lives that are most fragile,” the pope said.

https://t.co/eAp6yMtJDR

[Paulina Guzik @Guzik_Paulina]

One of those moments when papacy makes history.

[Paulina Guzik @Guzik_Paulina]

In a groundbreaking moment for Europe, Pope Leo sent a message what true freedom means in contemporary societies. With this, he also defended a seal of confession:

(1:20 of the video below) “Without confusing the legal sphere with the moral one, it is also worth recalling that freedom must be understood in its fullness. Being free does not simply mean being free from coercion or having many choices; it means being able to recognize the good and commit to it responsibly. For this reason, every truly free society also requires a proper limitation of public power, so that the freedom of individuals, communities and associations is not unduly restricted (cf. Dignitatis Humanae, 1).”

“From this perspective, the legitimate autonomy of the temporal order must never see itself as hostile to religion. Faith does not seek to impose itself through privileges or coercion; yet neither can it be silenced as if it were irrelevant to public life.”

“In this context, the sacramental seal of confession holds special importance for the Catholic Church. It is part of the broader sphere of religious freedom, which guarantees believing communities their own space for life, organization and internal discipline (cf. Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, The Helsinki Final Act, 1 August 1975, Principle VII). To protect it legally, as is done in a similar way in some professions, means preserving a sacred space of inner freedom, where the believer can open his or her soul to God without fear of external pressures, as international norms also recognize (cf. International Criminal Court, Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Rule 73.3).”

[Maria-Pia Negro Chin @MariaPiaChin]

"La defensa de la vida humana no es una cuestión parcial ni un interés confesional: es una meta de civilización. Toda vida humana debe ser reconocida y custodiada desde su concepción hasta su ocaso natural, en cada circunstancia de su existencia” -El Papa ante el Congreso español

[Paulina Guzik @Guzik_Paulina]

In what will certainly become one of the most fundamental speeches of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV told the Spanish Parliament, before receiving a 7-minute standing ovation: "The defense of human life is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilization."

"If life ceases to be recognized as a fundamental value, what future can our societies have?" he said, speaking to a gathering of politicians, many supporting abortion and euthanasia.

"Can a community that casts into the shadows the unborn child, the elderly, the sick, those who suffer in silence, or those who depend entirely on the care of others be called fully just?"

"Every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence. When this certainty is obscured, the most vulnerable are the first victims, and the law loses its deepest meaning: to serve and protect every person."

"For this reason, the moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to accompany, protect and love those lives that are most fragile," he said, repeating what John Paul II emphasized decades ago.

Starting his speech he commented that Church's is the "message offered in the spirit of service to the human person."

"When the Church addresses anything concerning public life, she does so while respecting the proper mission of institutions and the legitimate responsibility of those who have received the mandate to legislate," Pope Leo said, emphasizing "the Church offers a reflection born of the desire to serve the common good."

He hailed Spain as country that "has known how to view the human being as more than just a cog in the social, economic or political order. It has recognized the human being as a creature open to truth, endowed with freedom, and driven by a thirst for eternity that no temporal reality can quench -- in a word, as someone whose dignity takes precedence over all utility and to whose service legislative action is subject."

He said it was Catholic orders that "helped to shape a legal and moral consciousness capable of remembering that authority always entails responsibility and that every human being must be recognized as a subject of rights and duties."

"That aspiration continues to resonate today: that dignity, justice and the common good should be the measure of social relations, both at the national and international levels."

Referring multiple times to his "Magnifica Humanitas" encyclical, he said: "When the common good ceases to be a shared horizon, public action runs the risk of fragmenting into partial interests, incapable of safeguarding what belongs to all."

"In this context, the family — the primary human reality and the natural foundation of the community — takes on particular importance," Pope Leo said.

"The family will always be the first school of humanity, where one learns, before anywhere else, the basic grammar of living together: welcoming life, caring for others, forgiving, serving and belonging."

"Human life can never be treated as a commodity," the pope said.

"A law does not attain its true greatness merely by having been formally enacted; it attains it when, in addition to being valid in form, it can stand before the dignity of the person and pass that test without shame."

"I invite you, then, to lift your gaze to the world around you, not to turn away from reality, but to remember that every decision by public authorities affects real people, especially those who have less power to make their voices heard."

"The expanse of one’s vision consists precisely in looking more deeply at what is at stake in every public decision. This is why, alongside technical solutions and legal reforms, a moral renewal is also needed."

Video: Vatican Media
(fragment of speech follows)

[Catholic News Service @CatholicNewsSvc]

Speaking before Spain's parliament in Madrid, Pope Leo XIV said that human dignity "belongs to every human being simply by virtue of existing" and must remain the foundation of every legal order.

[Paulina Guzik @Guzik_Paulina]

More than 1.2 million people filled the streets of Madrid as Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass and led a Eucharistic procession through the heart of the Spanish capital June 7 for the solemnity of Corpus Christi, the liturgical feast celebrating the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

The pope offered Mass in the Plaza de Cibeles, the city’s iconic neoclassical fountain square where several of Madrid’s grand avenues converge, before leading the Corpus Christi procession that wound nearly a mile and a half through streets adorned with elaborate floral carpets crafted by local artisans from more than 30,000 carnations.

@catholicourtney reports @OSVNews from Madrid
https://t.co/VEWtHMNg1V

[Courtney Mares @catholicourtney]

Seventeen-year-old Patricia Adam is the second oldest of the 8 siblings who are all together at Pope Leo XIV’s Corpus Christi Mass in Madrid.

“For me, my Catholic faith is living a relationship with God and with Jesus… And living with my family and being here means a lot because it is not just a relationship one to one, but all together with God,” Patricia told @OSVNews

[Vatican News @vaticannews_es]

El encuentro en el Movistar Arena: Tejer redes para poner a la persona en el centro - Vatican News https://t.co/j6j5d6yIyc

[Vatican News @vaticannews_es]

La tarde de este domingo, en el “Movistar Arena” de Madrid, el #PapaLeónXIV escuchó los testimonios de los participantes en el Encuentro “Tejer redes con el mundo de la cultura, del arte, de la economía y del deporte”. #ViajeApostólicoEspaña
https://t.co/I2rIJFy2en