Pope Leo yesterday urged global leaders to stop dividing their electorates with ‘sterile simplifications’, calling on them to listen to the world’s cries for peace as he met migrants and some 600,000 young people at the start of a week-long tour of Spain.
Leo, who has angered US President Donald Trump by criticising his anti-immigration policies and the Iran war, visited a Church-run shelter for the homeless in Madrid and will meet migrants in the Canary Islands during the five-stop visit.
He said before touching down in Spain that he hoped the tour would set an example to the world about respecting ‘every human being’.
“Today, the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarisation seems to have grown rather than diminished, and human dignity continues to be violated,” Leo said in a speech before King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace in Madrid.
“I invite everyone to set aside the divisive and polarising narratives of your societal reality and history, so as to overcome sterile simplifications through the fruitful appreciation of complexity,” he added.
Technology was partly to blame for creating an environment that magnifies prejudices and weakens critical thinking, Leo said.
He drew on Spain’s history as an example of peaceful cohabitation between religions and cultures, making reference to how Christians, Muslims and Jews co-operated during medieval times to enhance human knowledge by translating Arabic texts into Latin, Spanish and Hebrew at the School of Translators in Toledo.
“Your own history suggests that a culture of encounter, not confrontation, is what fosters stability and prosperity,” he said.
Hundreds of thousands lined the streets of central Madrid to witness the first visit to Spain by a pope since 2011. Some waved Vatican and Spanish flags.
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