“No-one can kneel before God and despise brothers and sisters,” the Vatican’s highest authority emphasized, in an implicit reference to the rejection of immigrants and vulnerable people in societies he urged to “break the chains of all selfishness.”

A warm Sunday morning unfolded early with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people at Plaza de Cibeles and its surroundings for a ceremony that included the Eucharist and the Corpus Christi procession, the first outside Rome led by His Holiness.

Accompanied by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, and their daughters, Leonor, Princess of Asturias, and Infanta Sofia, Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez, and several authorities, the Pope began his second day of his visit to Spain with an event that exceeded all expectations.

The Holy Father made a clear statement of intent at the start of his homily, repeating: “Whoever is in Madrid, is from Madrid. I am among you as just another Madrid native.”

Finally, Pope Leo XIV led the Corpus Christi procession, walking some 700 meters along Alcala Street, which had been transformed into a vast floral carpet of more than 30,000 carnations.

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