Hundreds of thousands line Madrid streets to see Pope Leo

MADRID, June 7 – Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Madrid on Sunday morning to catch a glimpse of Pope Leo as he made his way to an open-air Mass in what was expected to be the largest event during his week-long visit to Spain.

People waved flags and shouted “Long live the pope” as Leo was driven in the popemobile down Madrid’s main thoroughfare Paseo de la Castellana toward Cibeles Square, where he was due to preside over the Mass. Some tossed flower petals as he arrived in the square.

Leo began his trip on Saturday with meetings with migrants and the homeless and a vigil with about 600,000 young people in Madrid. His June 6-12 visit also includes stops in Barcelona and the Canary Islands, where he will meet migrants who have risked their lives crossing there from West Africa.

He said he hoped the visit, his first to an EU country outside Italy, would set an example to the world about respecting “every human being” and urged leaders to stop dividing electorates.

“I am delighted that he is praying for us migrants and for our safety,” said Andrea Margarita, a 72-year-old Peruvian who arrived in Spain six months ago, as she waited in the crowd in a wheelchair with her daughter.

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