Pope Leo XIV delivered an address to the Spanish parliament on June 8th in which he warned of “a deep spiritual and cultural crisis” gripping the world and called on the international community to confront the root causes of migration and abandon the logic of rearmament. The speech, the first ever given by a sitting pope to the Spanish legislature, touched on conflict, artificial intelligence, the climate emergency, abortion, and euthanasia, and was met with a seven-minute standing ovation.

Much of the address was devoted to migration. The pontiff, who is the first American to hold the office, has already clashed with the Trump administration over its conduct in the war in Iran and its treatment of migrants. His visit to Spain is partly intended to highlight the issue, and he plans to meet in the Canary Islands with people who have made the perilous Atlantic crossing from Africa. “The tragic drama of migration challenges the conscience of nations and the ethical foundation of the international order,” he told lawmakers. He called for safe and legal pathways, genuine integration and, above all, international action to remove the conditions, including conflict, poverty, and climate stress, that force people to leave home in the first place.

His remarks land in politically charged territory. Spain’s socialist-led government has bucked European trends by regularising the status of more than 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. The far-right Vox party has described this as facilitating an immigrant “invasion” and is pushing policies in the regions where it governs to prioritise Spaniards over foreign-born people in access to housing and benefits.

On security and rearmament, Leo was pointed. It is concerning, he said, that in various parts of the world, including Europe, rearmament is being presented as an almost inevitable response to international fragility. True security, he argued, stems from justice, dialogue and respect for international law, not from the temporary silence achieved by weapons.

Source: The Guardian. June 8th, 2026.