The faithful of the Archdiocese of Madrid, together with the dioceses of Alcalá de Henares and Getafe, welcomed Leo with a euphoria comparable to that of a decisive goal in a World Cup final.
Before a packed Santiago Bernabéu stadium and a crowd fully swept up in the moment, a figure dressed in white made his entrance. Yet it was neither Mbappé nor Cristiano Ronaldo nor any other Real Madrid soccer team legend but Pope Leo XIV.
It was a particularly significant moment for the pope at the arena where the team he loves — though, as pontiff, he’s for everyone — has achieved its greatest sporting feats. No match was being played, but the faithful of the Archdiocese of Madrid, together with the suffragan dioceses of Alcalá de Henares and Getafe, welcomed Leo with a euphoria comparable to that of a decisive goal in a World Cup final.
Pope Leo blesses a child at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid, June 8, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN News
“For a soccer player, scoring a goal in this stadium is a moment that leaves a bit of a mark on your life. Today, the Church in Madrid has scored a spectacular goal for all time,” the pope said before beginning his address.
The event brought together representatives from parishes, movements, and consecrated life, as well as priests and pastoral workers, with a special presence from parish pastoral councils. Young people performed a short play for the pope modeled after a soccer match, and David Bustamante, a famous Spanish singer, also performed. There were also deeply moving personal testimonies, such as that of a 33-year-old man who shared with the gathering that he had been baptized last year and is now preparing to get married.
The event brought together representatives from parishes, movements, and consecrated life, as well as priests and pastoral workers, with a special presence from parish pastoral councils. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News
When he addressed the priests, consecrated persons, and bishops of Madrid, the pope told them: “Your joy will be contagious if, moving from being just a fleeting emotion, it becomes a stable way of being, a deep sentiment that renews individuals, groups, and the diocesan community.”
“Baptism truly changes one’s life … thereʼs no need to fear the fact that it never produces uniformity,” the pontiff stated during his second-to-last gathering in Spainʼs capital city, prior to beginning the second leg of his journey, which will take him to Barcelona on Tuesday, June 9.
To illustrate this idea, he referenced the New Testament as an antidote to uniformity, thanks to the “testimony of the variety of its voices.” He also drew attention to the episode of the Tower of Babel, where, according to the biblical account, people in a “totalitarian and merely human project ended up unable to understand their neighbor.”
In contrast to this, and in line with the proposals in his recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, he presented the figure of Nehemiah who involved the entire community in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
“Seeking and following him is the condition for proclaiming him,” the pope said about the task of evangelization. | Credit: Vatican Media
The pope used this gathering with some of the faithful of the diocesan community in the Madrid region to outline the keys to effective evangelization in the 21st century. He emphasized the importance of “not scattering or shutting ourselves away in the group or environment where we already feel secure among people who always sing the same tune.”
“To reach the heart of the city, we must cultivate the awareness that truth is symphonic and always transcends us, and cultivate the desire to encounter the Risen One, who always goes ahead of us, preceding us and perhaps already present where we have not yet sought him,” he noted.
Therefore, he continued, “seeking and following him is the condition for proclaiming him; otherwise, there is no evangelization, and today we can understand this better than in the past.”
Quoting St. Teresa of Ávila, he said: “‘Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you!’ Together, as a diocesan Church, you can offer the Gospel witness that unleashes the best strengths of a humanity bombarded by images and words, yet hungry for justice and thirsty for truth,” he added.
He also highlighted the special relationship between the Church and the city, which, as he explained, takes shape “among flesh-and-blood people, in workplaces and close relationships, but also within the different communities, associations, and neighborhood organizations,” and which gains even greater significance “amidst the change of epochs we are currently experiencing.”
“When we reduce ecclesial life to a routine where everyone remains locked within their own habits and roles, what we lack is the Spirit,” he stated.
His words seemed to resonate in the testimony of Sister María San José of the Congregation of the Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus. She is an educated, independent woman with two careers and two masterʼs degrees who left a comfortable life at Santander Bank to consecrate herself to religious life, demonstrating how God’s call reaches into every walk of life.
“I realized that there was something more that fulfilled me — beyond everything I had and everything I had built — and that was this consecrated life, this total dedication to the Lord,” she explained to EWTN News while on her way to the gathering.
“God knows the hearts of his people individually. He knows them as only he can — that is, in love and, therefore, in freedom,” the pope said, underscoring that God is “infinite mercy and wants everyone to be saved.”
“He desires this to the point of becoming flesh and taking upon himself all the sin, evil, and negativity of the world,” he emphasized.
Among those present at Bernabéu stadium was Father Antonio Sánchez, a priest of the Diocese of Getafe ordained last October. He shared with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, the deep emotion he felt participating along with the pope in the Corpus Christi procession following the Mass celebrated in the Plaza de Cibeles on Sunday, June 7.
Father Antonio Sánchez at Bernabéu Stadium on June 8, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Antonio Sánchez
It was, in his words, “a privilege to be selected without any merit; all they said was that the priests of the ecclesiastical province should be at the procession,” he explained.
“With an attitude of adoration, seeing the pope who was a great witness, because being close to the procession during such a unique moment was truly special. We were on the same [ground] level as the pope, and seeing him in the procession, adoring and focused on Christ … it was a moment of realization: Amidst all the commotion, we were focused on Christ, to whom we have consecrated our lives,” he told ACI Prensa shortly before the pontiff entered the stadium, where he was welcomed with tremendous enthusiasm.
Prior to this gathering, the pope visited Santa María la Real de la Almudena Cathedral, which became the setting for one of his most touching moments in Madrid.
The Holy Father placed the Golden Rose at the feet of the image of the Virgin of Almudena as a symbol of his filial love, a gesture reflecting the pope’s deep Marian devotion. This marks the fourth Spanish image of the Virgin to receive this gift; the other three are the Virgin of Hope Macarena, the Virgin of La Cabeza, and the Virgin of Montserrat.
Pope Leo XIV prays at the Almudena Cathedral on June 8, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
This pontifical distinction is a recognition of the popular piety and Marian devotion of Madrid. It has ancient roots and symbolizes the papal blessing.
The tradition dates back to Pope Leo IX, who established it in 1049. Over the centuries, it has been bestowed upon monasteries, shrines, sovereigns, and prominent figures in recognition of their commitment to the faith and the common good. In the past, the Golden Rose was also awarded to queens, including Isabella the Catholic monarch, who was the first queen to receive it in 1493, granted by Innocent VIII.
In the solemn act, Pope Leo climbed the steps leading to the base of the image to lay the floral offering and pray.
His most notable previous visit to the Almudena Cathedral took place on the occasion of the 2002 canonization of Alonso de Orozco, an Augustinian who died in Madrid, in the convent that occupied the site of the current Senate building. The saint’s remains now rest in the chapel of the Contemplative Augustinian Nuns’ convent on La Granja street.
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This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
