The meeting this Friday in Rome, between the leaders of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, is crucial to determining if the new pontiff, Leo XIV, will make his first trip to Spain. The main objective is to confirm his presence at the commemoration ceremony for the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death, scheduled for June 10 at the Sagrada Família in Barcelona.
The Spanish delegation includes the president and vice president of the CEE, Luis Javier Argüello and José Cobo, along with the secretary general Francisco César García Magán and the Archbishop of Barcelona, José Omella. Argüello, Cobo, and Omella are already in Rome, having participated in the extraordinary consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV.
This Friday's meeting is only a preliminary first approach to evaluate the Pontiff's possible trip.
Meeting with the Secretariat of State is a formal step almost mandatory under Holy See protocol for such invitations. The Sagrada Família announced its intention to formally invite the Pope last April, reaffirming it in May after the election of the American Robert Francis Prevost as Leo XIV.
One factor that could complicate Leo XIV's travel is the potential calling of early elections by the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, as Popes usually avoid traveling to countries during electoral periods. The clearest precedent for a papal visit to the temple is that of Benedict XVI in November 2010, when he consecrated the expiatory temple.
