MADRID — “Every war represents a painful defeat in the ability to negotiate,” Pope Leo XIV stated this Tuesday before the plenary session of the Congress of Deputies. In his first speech before the Spanish Cortes, the pontiff questioned the resurgence of rearmament as a response to international fragility.
“Weapons can impose a temporary silence, but they will never be able to build a genuine and lasting peace,” he declared. “True security comes from justice, patient dialogue and respect for international law.”
The intervention lasted half an hour and was received with a standing ovation that lasted seven minutes, the longest recorded in the chamber. The 700 people present—deputies, senators, members of the Government and former presidents—applauded the pontiff, while they heard themselves cheering.
Leo XIV also sent a clear message against abortion and euthanasia. He criticized the political tension and called for “a respectful welcome and real possibilities of integration” for immigrants.
Before his intervention, the Pope met with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the Apostolic Nunciature. In his speech, he vindicated the role of Christian tradition in the formation of modern conscience: “The law must serve the good, justice sets limits on force, power needs legitimacy, the poor belong fully to the community, the foreigner must be welcomed according to their dignity and human life can never be treated as a commodity.”
When signing the Book of Honor of the Congress, he wrote: “With the hope that respect for the rights of all is always present in the exercise of legislative activity in this democratic seat of Spanish national sovereignty.”
This is the third day of the pontiff’s visit to Spain. Their agenda will conclude with a diocesan meeting at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
