The criticisms marking Pope Leo XIV's visit to Spain: abortion, euthanasia, and the protest of associations of victims of sexual abuse in the Church

The visit of Pope Leo XIV to Spain has been marked this Monday from its early hours by several controversies generated by his words or actions, from different sectors. The pontiff has held a meeting with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the Apostolic Nunciature, has delivered a historic speech in the Congress of Deputies and is scheduled to meet this afternoon with victims of sexual abuse within the Church and later with the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.

One of the most controversial moments of the day occurred during his intervention in the Lower House. Leo XIV has reaffirmed the Church's position on issues such as abortion and euthanasia by defending that "all human life must be recognized from its conception until its natural end." Along the same lines, he asked: "Can a community that leaves in the shadows the unborn child, the elderly, the sick, those who suffer in silence or those who depend entirely on the care of others be called fully just?"

The pontiff has also championed the role of the family within society. "The family will always be the first school of humanity where, before anywhere else, the elementary grammar of coexistence is learned: receiving life, caring for others, forgiving, serving and belonging," he affirmed during his speech in Congress, claims that have not been well received by certain social sectors.

Likewise, at the doors of the Apostolic Nunciature, another front has eclipsed part of the papal visit. While Leo XIV was meeting with Sánchez, several associations and groups of victims and survivors of clerical pedophilia gathered to denounce what they consider a new "act of bad faith" and a "lack of humanity from the Church." The protesters criticize that a public act of recognition for the victims has not been organized and denounce their exclusion from the private meeting that the Pope will hold this afternoon with some people affected by these abuses.

The collectives assure that none of the five groups present in the protest have been called to the meeting. Furthermore, they accuse the Spanish Episcopal Conference and the organizing committee of the visit of having set aside the “dissidents” and selected “their own.” The president of the National Stolen Childhood Association (ANIR), Juan Cuatrecasas, has denounced that there is “a lack of representativeness and plurality” and maintains that the chosen victims belong to programs promoted by the Church itself.

The controversy comes after Leo XIV himself recognized before landing in Spain that pedophilia within the Church “is a wound still open” and assured that he would continue fighting against it. The pontiff also announced that he would receive some victims during his stay in the country, although he warned of the limitations to expand the call: “I am going to receive some victims, unfortunately it is impossible to receive all of them.” On the other hand, he has been applauded for his vindication of "human dignity" in defense of migratory policies.