José María Sánchez de Lamadrid: “Called reminds us that we are loved, called to pass on that flame of love.”

Testimonials, music, families, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, in which thousands of people are expected to participate. Although this type of event is relatively common in countries such as the United States, where SEEK has established itself as one of the most important Catholic evangelization events, which is unusual in Spain. 

On January 12, 2026, the Movistar Arena in central Madrid will host Calls, “a day of praise, prayer, music, testimonies, and fellowship, to prepare the way for the year 2033, when we will commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord.”

Omnes spoke with one of the organizers, José María Sánchez de Lamadrid, parish priest of Santo Domingo de la Calzada in Algete, who shared the origins and significance of this historic gathering. 

To get to Llamados, the event that aims to bring thousands of people together in Madrid to worship Christ and strengthen their faith, there has been a journey. What has that journey been like?

–The Lord is always at the beginning of these things. He inspires us, and we do what we can to respond. In our case, in 2013 we began a process of renewal in the parish of Santo Domingo de la Calzada and La Inmaculada in Algete. We did this using Alpha as the driving force behind this renewal. We had started using this method in 2011, and by 2013 it was well established. In its program, Alpha It includes a healing session, which is, in essence, Jesus“ method: Jesus proclaims the Gospel, not in theory, but through his actions. As he reminds John the Baptist when he asks him if he is the Messiah, ”the lame walk, the blind see, the poor are evangelized." Jesus' method begins with the word, with the explicit proclamation of the message: his speeches, his words; and then his deeds. Words and deeds.

2013 was also the Year of Faith, which had been proclaimed by the Pope Benedict XVI. On the occasion of the Synod on the New Evangelization, we held a week of evangelization that coincided with the election of Pope Francis. 

It was during that week of evangelization that we considered how to respond to the human suffering of the elderly, the lonely... A first experiment emerged: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in which the sufferings of people are presented. Starting in October 2013, we began to do this on the first Monday of every month. This prayer of mercy has evolved since then. The Lord has inspired us, and we have refined it, fine-tuned it, modified things, and each time, more people come. During the pandemic, it also skyrocketed. YouTube channel And today we have a worship service in which some 800 people are participating in person, and there are approximately 1,500 connections from Spain and other parts of the world. 3,000 people praying to the Lord.

Last year, in response to the Jubilee Year of Hope, We asked ourselves, why not offer a great prayer of mercy? We wanted to do something big to close the Jubilee of 2025 and begin the journey to 2033, the 2000th anniversary of the Lord's death and resurrection, Pentecost, and the beginning of the Church. An event that, as many say, will probably be the event of the century, and many realities in the Church are focusing their efforts there.

Who will we see in Llamados, and why did you choose them? 

–The filmmaker José Manuel Cotelo y Olatz Elola, The creators of Blessings will be the masters of ceremonies, the presenters. On the musical side, we will have Hillsong Spain, considered one of the most famous and influential Christian music bands in the world, and there will be Quique Mira and María Lorenzo, Casilda Finat and René ZZ as guests. And they're coming without charging anything. With them, we'll have a kind of panel of experiences, to get ideas.

And, of course, Nicky Gumbel, the initiator of Alpha. Listening to Gumbel is amazing. He is a man of great faith and, although he is not Catholic, for example, last year he ended by asking for a prayer for the conclave at the Leadership Conference. There is a great sense of unity. 

In Spain, we perhaps have a more limited experience of ecumenism. I have many friends from different Christian denominations, and they are people of tremendous faith. Ultimately, we have much more in common than divides us, and we can do many things together, especially in this part of the first proclamation, as Rainiero Cantalamessa reminds us and as the Pope Leo XIV on his recent trip to Turkey, 

Nicky Gumbel isn't here to talk about Alpha; he's here to talk about evangelism, about bringing Jesus to the world. He wants to reach 100 million people through Alpha, and he's focusing the last years of his life on this dream. He's one of those visionaries who dreams big. 

In terms of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, I believe that, apart from World Youth Day, we have never had such a large gathering for adoration in Spain. And we want to offer that as well. Let it be an occasion for us all to pray together. May it help us to see that we are not alone, that there are many more people of all ages, children, young people, adults, etc., because the event has that family perspective. We will also have the musical support of the Catholic music group Salve.

How does one arrive at such a “crazy” decision as choosing the Movistar Arena as the venue?

–We are very much in agreement with Alpha and Nicky Gumbel He always talks about giving something special to God in 2033. That's how it came about. CallsWe wanted a large venue so that those who are unable to attend the Mercy Prayer regularly could come, and we thought about offering something more. We spoke with Monsignor Antonio Prieto, the Bishop of Alcalá de Henares, and with those responsible for Alpha Spain. 

The first part of Calls is very much inspired by the Leadership Conference that Alpha does in May. Hence the combination of music and testimonies. 

The second part is the prayer of mercy, pure and simple, as we do here every month: putting the Lord at the center, praying, and allowing Him to heal us. 

We wanted a place where anyone who wanted to come could enter. That's why we chose the Movistar Arena, which is an iconic venue in the heart of Madrid, and also a place where culture is generated. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of these courtyards of the Gentiles. So why not put the Lord in these spaces where there are events and music?

If anything is rejuvenating the face of the Church, it is Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, music, and personal relationship with Christ. In this sense, does Llamados contribute anything new? How can we make the seed of affection effective?    

–I think it's not about stepping on anyone, but rather about adding value. Thankfully, there are many events with different perspectives, from music, such as concerts, to Hakuna, or other Catholic events, and we want to join in.

There is another idea that also inspires us, which is that the Lord, in his public life, worked at different levels, and the transmission of faith also occurs at different levels. From small groups, one-on-one, Jesus and Nicodemus, Jesus and the Samaritan woman; small groups, Peter, James, John, the 12 Apostles, the 72, and then there are the crowds. The Lord uses all these models or ways of transmitting the faith. This encounter is part of one of those great events, we might say, or of “the crowds” that the Gospel speaks of.

Then there is the day-to-day, and what we always strive for is that these types of meetings do not remain an emotional high but rather generate ideas and projects.

May each person who participates think, “How can I prepare for the 2000th anniversary of the Lord's death and resurrection?” That's where the mind and ideas come in. May we come out with our batteries fully charged so that each of us, in our own place, in our own reality, in our parish, in our family, in our school, in our university, wherever we may be, can carry that flame. 

It is not merely rationalistic, which would be only the head, nor is it merely sentimental or emotional, coming from the heart, nor is it merely voluntaristic. Rather, it is putting the Lord at the center, listening to the testimony of other people who are doing much good and who can give us clues in the face of the difficulties of life that we all have, how to carry that flame of faith. That is where the name comes from. Calls, It is a play on words because we are loved and we are called to pass on that flame of love.