Pope reflects on journey to Spain, encourages faithful to look upon others with love

June 17, 2026

During his general audience this morning in St. Peter’s Square (video), Pope Leo XIV reflected on his apostolic journey to Spain and called upon the faithful to learn from Jesus to look upon others with “love, respect, and compassion.”

Pope Leo recalled that he “was welcomed everywhere with enthusiasm and readiness to listen. For this I give thanks to God and to the entire Spanish people, the King and the civil Authorities, the Bishops and the ecclesial communities.”

“Through the various meetings, I sensed a need to hear from the Pope’s voice, the Gospel of hope for today’s humanity, which is sorely tried by the negative consequences of a deceptive model of development,” the Pope continued.

Referring to a “comprehensive insight” he received on the Canary Islands, Pope Leo said:

We know that the migration phenomenon is complex and requires organic and coordinated action plans. But this interpretation opens up a different, broader perspective: it enables us to understand how we are called to reread the Gospel in today’s world, exchanging the gifts of our respective cultures with each other, and in particular, the results produced in them by the fruitfulness of Christ’s message.

And one of these fruits is precisely dialogue between people and between peoples, an encounter in the spirit of fraternity, which enables us to discover and appreciate one another’s values. This journey is not easy. It requires goodwill and God’s help, but it is the path that leads to the civilization of love.

“Dear brothers and sisters, the motto of this Apostolic Journey was ‘Alzad la mirada,’ “Lift up your gaze!” (cf. Jn 4:35),” the Pope recalled, adding:

Jesus addressed these words to his first disciples, to teach them to see the desire for life, truth and fullness in people and in the crowds. The Lord repeats those words to me first, and by his grace I also experienced them during this Journey.

Today, I would like to share this invitation with you: let us lift up our gaze! Let us learn from Jesus to look at our neighbor, at people and at the world, “through God’s eyes,” that is, with love, respect and compassion.

 

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Further information:

• General Audience (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 6/17/26)
• General Audience (Holy See Press Office, 6/17/26)