MADRID — Pope Leo XIV made history Monday by becoming the first pope to address Spain's Congress of Deputies, delivering a forceful appeal to the country's political class to defend human dignity and protect life "from conception to its natural end."
The June 8 address, given before about 700 guests amid tight security, drew a standing ovation that lasted nearly seven minutes, with shouts of "Long live the pope!" echoing through the chamber.
In his speech, Pope Leo warned lawmakers not to subordinate human dignity to "shifting social consensus or the whims of the majority at any given moment," insisting that "every truly just society is built upon the recognition of the inviolable dignity of the human person."
"In this sense, if life ceases to be recognized as a fundamental value, what future can our societies have?" the pope asked. "Can a community that casts into 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 defense of human life is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilization," he said.
The pope's remarks came as Spain's socialist-led government has been advancing efforts to enshrine abortion protections in the country's Constitution. Such a reform would require broad parliamentary consensus, including support from the center-right People's Party.
"Every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence," Pope Leo said. "When this certainty is obscured, the most vulnerable are the first victims, and the law loses its deepest meaning: to serve and protect every person."
"For this reason," he added, "the moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to accompany, protect and love those lives that are most fragile."
The pope also defended the family as "the primary human reality and the natural foundation of the community," saying that "where the family is upheld, the spiritual and social stability of nations is also strengthened."
"The family will always be the first school of humanity, where one learns, before anywhere else, the basic grammar of living together: welcoming life, caring for others, forgiving, serving and belonging," he said.
Pope Leo drew on Spain's intellectual and Catholic heritage, citing Cervantes, St. Teresa of Ávila, Miguel de Unamuno and the School of Salamanca, especially the 16th-century Dominican friar Francisco de Vitoria.
From that tradition, he said, Spain helped shape "a legal and moral consciousness capable of remembering that authority always entails responsibility and that every human being must be recognized as a subject of rights and duties."
The pope said that legacy remains alive whenever lawmakers ask "how to ensure that what is possible is just, that what is legal is truly humane, and that the will of the majority safeguards those goods that belong to all and respects that which no majority can legitimately violate."
He also cited his recent encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas," published May 25, saying that in an age of artificial intelligence, biotechnology and rapid technological change, political discernment must focus on "the place of the human person in our decision making."
The pope devoted part of his address to migrants and refugees, a major theme of his trip to Spain, which will conclude with visits to Tenerife and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, a key entry point to Europe for migrants.
"The situation of migrants and refugees calls for a response that focuses on people, addresses the root causes that force them to leave, and goes beyond the mere management of migration flows," he said.
He called for "safe and legal pathways, a respectful welcome and real opportunities for integration," while also promoting "the right to remain in one's own land," so that no one is forced to leave home because of war, insecurity, poverty or the effects of the climate crisis.
Pope Leo also warned that many migrants remain "prey to traffickers and smugglers who take advantage of their desperation," calling for stronger prevention, rescue and assistance efforts.
"No nation can face a challenge of this magnitude on its own," he said.
Turning to global conflict, Pope Leo said the world is undergoing "a profound spiritual and cultural crisis" marked by violence, polarization and mistrust.
"Every war constitutes, ultimately, a painful defeat of the capacity to negotiate and also of that common human consciousness that recognizes bonds of justice among nations," he said.
"Weapons may impose a temporary silence; but they can never build a genuine and lasting peace," the pope said, warning that "in various parts of the world — and in Europe as well — rearmament is once again being presented as an almost inevitable response to the fragility of the international situation."
The pope also warned against the use of artificial intelligence in warfare, saying new technologies in the military sphere require "rigorous ethical oversight, so that decisions regarding life and death are never left to automated systems nor removed from the moral responsibility of the human person."
Addressing Spain's polarized political climate, the pope urged lawmakers to resist contempt for political opponents.
"Political pluralism should not degenerate into the constant disparagement of one's adversary," he said. "In a mature society, even conflict can become a path to peace, when differences are softened by listening and directed toward recognizing the needs, aspirations and capabilities of all."
"Firmness does not require contempt; disagreement does not entail humiliation," he added.
Only two left-wing parties, Podemos and the BNG, which together account for six lawmakers out of more than 600 parliamentarians, chose not to attend the pope's address.
Pope Leo also made a strong appeal for religious freedom, calling freedom of thought, conscience and religion "a fundamental right that protects the most intimate sphere of the person."
"The freedom upon which the contemporary state is built, if it is authentic, recognizes the religious dimension of the human person, respects it and protects it legally," he said. Authentic freedom, the pope added, "ensures that faith is not a reason for which a person has to forfeit his or her contribution to society."
"Faith does not seek to impose itself through privileges or coercion; yet neither can it be silenced as if it were irrelevant to public life," he said.
The pope also defended the sacramental seal of confession, saying it "holds special importance for the Catholic Church" and forms part of the broader sphere of religious freedom.
"To protect it legally, as is done in a similar way in some professions, means preserving a sacred space of inner freedom, where the believer can open his or her soul to God without fear of external pressures," Pope Leo said.
The remarks came shortly after French bishops criticized a June 1 proposal in France's National Assembly that they said could have endangered the seal of confession. The proposal was later withdrawn.
Near the end of his address, the pope invited Spanish lawmakers to "lift your gaze to the world around you," not to escape reality, but to remember that every public decision "affects real people, especially those who have less power to make their voices heard."
"A law does not attain its true greatness merely by having been formally enacted," he said. "It attains it when, in addition to being valid in form, it can stand before the dignity of the person and pass that test without shame."
The pope concluded with a blessing for Spain, praying that the nation "never lose sight of its roots nor the courage to look to the future."
"May Spain continue to be a land of encounter, of culture, of solidarity and of hope," he said. "And may its public life always know how to unite the firmness of convictions with the nobility of dialogue and the greatness of service."
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
