Pope Leo XIV Addresses Spanish Parliament, Warning of Global Spiritual Crisis and Migration Challenges

Pope Leo XIV addressed Spain's Las Cortes Generales on Monday in the first-ever papal speech to the Spanish legislature, urging lawmakers to uphold the dignity of migrants, the unborn, and all vulnerable people, and warning that the world faces a 'deep spiritual and cultural crisis' of violence and polarization. The American pope called for 'diplomatic courage' and adherence to international law to resolve conflicts, expressing concern over rising European defense budgets and demanding 'rigorous ethical oversight' of AI-driven weapons systems. He invoked the 16th-century School of Salamanca as a foundation for human rights while acknowledging that the Church itself had failed to live up to those principles — a reference to its role in the transatlantic slave trade and colonial conquest, echoing his earlier formal apology on the subject. On migration, Leo called for both safe legal pathways and integration for those fleeing conflict, poverty, and climate change, as well as international efforts to address root causes so people need not leave their homelands — remarks that aligned closely with the policies of Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has launched a legalization program for some 500,000 undocumented migrants. Leo's visit also comes at a politically sensitive moment for Sánchez, whose government has been beset by corruption scandals and legislative gridlock, and the pope appeared to address Spain's polarization directly by warning that political pluralism 'should not degenerate into the constant disparagement of one's adversary.' Later on Monday, Leo met with Catholic bishops and pledged to meet with survivors of clerical sexual abuse, though some victim groups complained of being excluded from those meetings.