“Pope Leo, we love you very much!”, the cry of the Bishop of the Canary Islands, Monsignor José Mazuelos, at the conclusion of the Mass in the stadium of Gran Canaria, summed up the spirit with which the island lived the historic day in which for the first time in history a Pope visited the archipelago. In the Mass, Leo XIV spoke of the meaning of charity, beyond the welfare, and also looking for the spiritual dimension of the person, and of love, on the eve of the feast of the Sacred Heart.
Once again, the common feature of all the mass meetings of the Holy Father in Spain was repeated: an apotheosic entrance, with a people determined to show their affection. The Mass at the stadium where Las Palmas is playing (eliminated yesterday from the fight for promotion to the First Division) was attended by tens of thousands of faithful. A total of 41,000 tickets had been distributed, both for those attending at the soccer field and at the Gran Canaria Arena annex pavilion.
Shouts of “Pope Leo!” or even “Pio, pio” (the battle cry of the supporters of the Canary Island team) were repeated during the wait and especially at the entrance of the Holy Father.
About love
In his words to those gathered, the Pope insisted on his gratitude to the people of the Canary Islands for their efforts for the suffering people. He asked again to pray “for the brothers and sisters who have lost their lives at sea”.
He recalled a historical issue - his references to Christian roots are abundant in this trip -: the consecration of Spain to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a feast celebrated on Friday.
Leo XIV assured that “our vocation to love is not founded on calculation, nor on mere sentiment, nor is it reducible to mere philanthropy, but it pervades our whole being: fire for the soul, light for the mind, irresistible impulse for freedom, peace and at the same time torment for the heart”. “To love is connatural to man, indeed, it is a condition for the fullness of his very existence,” he said.
The Gospel, he said, invites us to translate “the infinite measure of God's love in the generosity with which we serve him, every day, in the brothers and sisters he puts in our path. Especially in those who are most needy, helpless, unable to give something back in return. Precisely as it happens on this island, in the welcome, in the sharing, in the disinterested gift”.
It is not enough to help
The Holy Father clarified the meaning of true charity: “it should not be mere assistance, but the integration of people, for their full realization - spiritual, intellectual and physical - and their dignified and constructive insertion”. It is not enough to help, it is necessary to care for the person in his integrity, also for his spiritual needs, he said.
Another characteristic of the Heart of Christ that the Pope emphasized is humility: “The Heart of Jesus is humble, and for this reason the ‘learned’ and the ‘sapient’, that is, those who presume to be self-sufficient, to know everything, to have no need of God or of others, do not feel its beat. These, in fact, dazed by the noise of a bombastic, omnipresent and agitated ‘I’, lack the necessary silence to listen in themselves and in their brothers and sisters to the hidden palpitation of love”.
Jesus - he added - teaches that “to taste the true joy of life, which resides in love, it is necessary to come down from the pedestals of arrogance that divides, to find ourselves in the humility that unites us. Where there is authentic humility there is love, and where there is love there is peace”.
A warm welcome
Before starting the ceremony, Leo XIV had made an extensive tour in the popemobile on the stadium's lawn. He also picked up and blessed children (during his stay in Barcelona it is estimated that he took in his arms more than a hundred). And, just before concluding, he wanted to pray before the popular image of the Virgen del Pino, the local patron saint, and of the Cristo del Teide, whose carvings presided over the Mass.
Among the thousands of attendees most were from the island of Gran Canaria itself, with abundant presence also from Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, as well as visitors from Andalusia.
The Gran Canaria stage concluded with a feeling of closeness and gratitude to the Pope who wanted to be especially close to the drama of immigration that affects the islands. “Emotion” was the most repeated word among the attendees. The local bishop, Monsignor José Mazuelos, wept at each of the events he shared with the Pope. After the Mass, when the Pope retired to rest, a group of the faithful gathered in the vicinity of the archbishop's palace, where he resides, to express their affection with shouts and songs, until Leo XIV leaned out of the window, after 10 p.m. Canary Islands time.
In an impromptu meeting, the Pope listened to the neighbors“ arrorró canario (a lullaby) and then told them that ”the visit has been too short“ and expressed that he is ”very grateful for the welcome. Thank you very much for being so generous and welcoming,“ responded by the hundred or so attendees with a ”Pope Leon, we love you a lot!"
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