More than a million people join Pope Leo for outdoor Mass in Madrid

Pontiff urges followers to dedicate themselves ‘to our brothers and sisters, to the poor, to those who suffer’

More than a million people filled the streets of Madrid to join Pope Leo in an open-air mass where the American pontiff appeared to emphasise the disconnect between Christian values and far-right politics, telling worshippers: “No one can kneel before the Lord and despise their brother.”

Queues to access the mass began forming hours before the sun rose on Sunday as people scrambled to secure a spot for what was billed as the biggest gathering of the pope’s week-long visit to Spain.

“It’s a historic event,” Elena Cabiedas, 29, told El País as she explained why she had turned up at 5am for the 10am event.

Many had travelled from across Spain to join in the mass, pouring into the Plaza de Cibeles and nearby streets. Organisers estimated that more than 1.2 million people had turned up for the event.

As Leo arrived in his white popemobile, the crowds cheered wildly, waving flags and shouting “long live the pope”.

He called on worshippers to show their faith through action, urging them not to shut themselves away in “private devotion” but instead to dedicate themselves “to our brothers and sisters, to families, to the poor, to those who suffer, to those who have lost hope.”

It was a nod to the central theme of his Spanish tour – the first by a pope in 15 years – which seeks to highlight Leo’s stances on migration and social issues as it blends together official and pastoral events.

Before touching down in Spain, Leo, who has clashed with Donald Trump over his immigration policies and the war with Iran, said he hoped the tour would set an example to the world about respecting “every human being”.

Leo kicked off the visit on Saturday by urging political leaders to seek unity rather than divide people in the hope of drumming up votes.

Before a night-time vigil that attracted 600,000 young people, he thrilled the crowds by doing the viral 6-7 hand gesture.

Among those who met Leo on Saturday was Khadri, a Senegalese national who said he had arrived in Spain during the coronavirus crisis after risking his life along the perilous Atlantic crossing. “I had left everything behind. I didn’t know where to start,” he told Leo in perfect Spanish.

He said the tremendous task of starting all over again had been made easier by the support he received from the Catholic charity Caritas. “I found people who welcomed me and treated me with respect,” he said, adding that he now had a job and had regularised his status. “They made me feel that my life mattered.”

Simmering under the surface of the tour is the seeming realignment between politics and the pontiff. For years, religion was seen as the domain of rightwing politicians in most countries around the world.

But as Leo repeatedly finds himself at odds with Trump’s administration in the US, a spotlight has been cast on the wide breach between the pontiff’s deep commitment to human rights and the far right’s anti-immigrant stance.

Instead it is Spain’s prime minister, the socialist and self-described atheist Pedro Sánchez, who seems most aligned with Leo’s positions on the global stage, whether it be through criticising Trump’s war on Iran or his government’s efforts to grant papers to hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in Spain.

Prior to Sunday’s mass, the pope expressed hope that Madrid – where local conservative PP politicians have at times resorted to support from the far right in order to govern – would “remain a welcoming and inclusive city, where the social life is inspired by genuine human values” in a message in a guestbook after receiving a key to the city.

People at the mass praised the pontiff’s focus on society’s most vulnerable. “I am delighted that he is praying for us migrants and for our safety,” Andrea Margarita, a 72-year-old Peruvian who arrived in Spain six months ago, told Reuters as she waited in the crowd in a wheelchair with her daughter.

After the mass, Leo was scheduled to hold a private meeting with fellow members of his Augustinian religious order before gathering with figures from the world of entertainment, sport and culture at a concert venue in central Madrid.

In the coming days, Leo is due to inaugurate the Jesus Christ tower of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia basilica and visit the Canary Islands to honour the thousands of migrants who have died trying to reach Europe.