The King Felipe VI and the Pope Leo XIV are two of the world’s most relevant heads of state, for reasons of different nature. The former, due to Spain’s history, our place in the European Union, and our influence in the Spanish-speaking world. The latter, because his figure transcends the papal office and his action guides more than a billion people worldwide. Their visions stand in opposition, in the current global context, to the triumph of the most reactionary views, and both figures have emerged in recent months as guarantors of the founding European ideal. Today we share some of the most notable elements of the Pope’s and the king’s interventions at the Royal Palace that can serve as a basis and inspiration for those around the world, with different viewpoints, who share an ideal of freedom, fraternity, and justice.
The Reassertion of the European Model
“I invite everyone, out of love for the truth, to abandon the divisive and polarizing narratives of your social reality and its history, in order to move from sterile simplifications to the fruitful appreciation of complexity. I see here a specific vocation of Europe, of which Spain is an original and fundamental protagonist. It is the gift that the Old Continent can offer the world if it wishes to remain young, for youth is found in those who feel they have a future and a mission that still speaks to them. To value complexity and study it, to learn not to deny it and to live it as a blessing, to flee from those identitarian approaches that seem to clarify everything, but that fill the world with phantoms and enemies: here lies the task of one who has a great history behind them
“, Leo XIV.
“I also urge you to cultivate dialogue and social friendship within yourselves, to take into account the perspectives of the poor and the young when imagining the future”
“Express my gratitude,” he said with regard to Spain, “for its fidelity to international law and to multilateralism, which translates into an active commitment to peace and solidarity among peoples. At the same time, I urge you to cultivate dialogue and social friendship within yourselves, to consider the perspectives of the poor and the young when imagining the future, to harmonize the demands of autonomy and unity, and to drive forward the European Union process, not against other powers, but as a gift to the entire human family,” he added.
Something the king highlighted by affirming the importance of building community: “Unity as an aspiration arises from the awareness of our fragility as individuals, our contingency, our limitations; but also from that inexhaustible capacity for good and beauty that reaches its peak when one loves one’s neighbor, when one opens up and dedicates oneself to others. Always remember it, in word and deed—and especially in these times of uncertainty—well deserves to be an universal guideline of conduct: unity as a vehicle and instrument for peace“, he said.
“In this time, we run the risk of forgetting what truly matters, of slipping into the mistaken belief that —with many of our references erased by the tempo of current events— everything is valid, everything is admissible, negotiable and justifiable. And that is not the case. The dignity of the person, human rights, democratic values and international legality must continue to be our prime numbers… Because in them —in their multiple combinations— lies the arithmetic of liberty, equality and justice; the one that adds and multiplies, not the one that subtracts and divides“, added the monarch.
Against Paralytic Fear and Supporting Listening to the Other
“Your words urge us to replace fear — which is sterile and paralytic — with a thoughtful and shared understanding of the potential and risks of this new reality. And you add that this new technology”, referring to the Pope’s latest encyclical warning about the risks of artificial intelligence, “cannot be monopolized by a few but must be an instrument in the hands of all that benefits all societies. And that will only be possible if we manage to keep the person at the center of any discourse; never replaced, subjugated or coerced by any algorithm”, noted Felipe VI.
“When attention is on the other, on the person before us, we can identify with their pain, with their joy, with their weaknesses and strengths”
“And he continued: “Because in a world flooded with data and messages empathy, understanding and listening become indispensable. Your predecessor, His Holiness Pope Francis, often insisted on the importance of knowing how to listen. It is paradoxical that, in a time of interconnections, we are losing that capacity… or that patience. Because when the attention is on the other, on the person in front of us, we can identify with their pain, with their joy, with their weaknesses and strengths…, we can put ourselves in their place. Only if we learn to understand the reasons of others, to seek common ground or agreement, we will be able to move forward together“.
Remembering the Spanish Model of Coexistence
Leo XIV stressed that “it is necessary, above all for those who bear economic, political and institutional responsibilities, to take a qualitative leap, to change course in investments aimed at schooling, university and research, at local communities and at civil society as a seedbed of participation and cultural mediation. Security, which far too often we delude ourselves to come from weapons and walls, matures more by learning to move forward with the other, to grow together, shoulder to shoulder. Your own history testifies to this.”
“The presence of Islam in the Iberian Peninsula, for example, constituted a political, cultural and religious reality of long duration. During that period there was not only confrontation, but an attempt to create a space of contact, conversation and dialogue about the meaning of truth among Christians, Muslims and Jews. At the School of Translators of Alfonso X the Wise, experts belonging to the three religions collaborated in translating the rich Arab, Greek and Hebrew heritage, contributing to the diffusion of texts such as, among others, those of philosophers Averroes (1126-1198) and Maimonides (1138-1204). In particular, cities like Córdoba and Toledo became places of mediation between languages, religions and knowledge. But this is the truth that European cities tell, their historical stratification, the fabric of solidarity that over the centuries has shaped their differences, transforming the inevitable conflicts into starting points”, he added.
“You arrive in a country where a part of your roots lie. You are received by a people you know well: vibrant and with character, supportive and tolerant; also creative, and cosmopolitan“, the king noted.
The Ignatian Opportunity in the Face of an Uncertain World
The Pope Leo has warned that “today, the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarization seems to grow, rather than diminish; human dignity continues to be violated. That is why we need culture, interiority, a free and high-quality education, we need transcendence. And, however, from these dark nights, men and women faithful to truth have been driven to move from room to room until, in conscience, justice and peace embrace. From his freedom we learn to be free.” It is in this context that Leo XIV has reaffirmed the role of the Catholic Church, which “today is ready to place itself at the service of the future of a people seeking reconciliation and peace.”
“Let us avoid words that humiliate or confront. Let us opt for the clarity that illuminates and the candor that opens paths”
“As another noble son of this land taught us”, referring to Ignatius of Loyola, “it is possible to rethink everything, giving credit to the ‘desolations and consolations’ of the heart, in an exercise of discernment and imagination by which he preferred peace to arms and the saints to the powerful. He understood that the good to which he was drawn was not utopian, and therefore his crisis turned into grace. The same can happen with the ‘novelties’ that unsettle us today and about which our sensitivities are divided. Let us avoid words that humiliate or confront. Let us opt for the clarity that illuminates and the candor that opens paths. Do not bless naive enthusiasms nor feed sterile fears. Rather, let us indicate criteria of discernment —the dignity of the person, the universal destination of goods, the option for the poor, the care of the common home, the peace— and translate them into practices: responsible planning, assessments of human and social impact, inclusion of the most fragile, digital literacy, research and industry oriented toward justice and peace”, he concluded.
