According to religious news outlets, the Holy See is planning a week-long visit to Spain. The draft agenda places the Pope in Barcelona on June 9 for a mass event at Montjuïc, followed by a visit to the Montserrat sanctuary the next day.
This would be the first papal visit to the monastery in over forty years, following John Paul II in 1982. While official confirmation is pending, the millennium of the abbey and recent meetings between Abbot Manel Gasch and the Pope make the visit highly likely.
“"He expressed a desire to visit Barcelona, a city he already knows."
President Salvador Illa formally invited the pontiff during a meeting on October 1. The visit would coincide with the inauguration of the Jesus Christ Tower at the Sagrada Família and the 1,000th anniversary of Montserrat.
