Pope Leo XIV's complete speech at the Congress of DeputiesThe Pope at the Spanish courts: “Can a community be called fully just that leaves in the shadows the unborn child, the elderly?”7 minutes and 5 seconds.
This is how long the applause of thanks to Papa lasted from the attendees of the historic Speech of Leo XIV in the Spanish Cortes.
7 minutes and 5 seconds.
Not even the proclamation of Princess Leonor as heir to the Spanish throne, or the signing of the Constitution that today governs the Spanish nation, had garnered more than four and a half minutes of applause.
Leo had not entered the Spanish Congress as a political leader but “as Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the Catholic Church”.
The Pope has delivered, before the so-called ruling class, one of the clearest and most committed speeches of his pontificate (so far, evidently), and which has become, like those remembered speeches of John Paul II The report, which was presented at the United Nations, is part of the reference framework of the role of the Church in society, the defense of human dignity and the call to political responsibility.
The Pope's words left nothing behind: the role of the Church as a voice of dignity respecting the powers and public exercises, the defense of life from conception to natural death, the need for freedom of choice of parents in the education of their children and the freedom of conscience, respect for the sacramental secrecy from the State.
He also addressed the problem of interference between the Church and politics; the dignity of those who seek a new life elsewhere; and peace. Peace is not the “absence of war,” but peace born of conscience.
The Pope has clearly outlined the main lines of the Church's dialogue with the political powers today. But he has also left us, who serve society from other points: the clothing store, the bar, the chair or the media, the open question of our real commitment to the dignity of each person, to “social” peace, to the construction, no longer of a future, but of a present.
Perhaps that is why, even if we think that we “speak for the other”, we may think that we will always be the “other” of our neighbor.
And perhaps because of that, or in spite of that, we also join in those 7 minutes of applause that, when they end, will give way to the minutes, 7, or seventy times seven, that we have to start making these wishes come true.
Director of Omnes. Degree in Communication, with more than 15 years of experience in Church communication. She has collaborated in media such as COPE or RNE.
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