Pope Francis will receive the president of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez

Pope Francis will receive in a private audience the President of the Government of Spain, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, with the declared objective of “continuing to join forces in favor of peace, urging diplomacy and dialogue instead of military means” in the face of the conflict. in the Holy Land.

The Government of Spain points out that the meeting will be held at 9:00 a.m. in Rome next Friday, October 11, as stated Europa Press from Executive sources.

The Secretary of State for Communication, in announcing the meeting, described the Pontiff as “one of the world’s main spiritual leaders” who has made “constant calls for the cessation of hostilities and the silencing of weapons in various conflict zones.”

Furthermore, he considers that Pope Francis has established himself “as one of the most influential voices globally in promoting peace and understanding between nations.”

At the end of the meeting between the president and the Pontiff, Pedro Sánchez will go to Cyprus, where the MED9 summit will take place, which brings together heads of State and Government from Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia and Croatia, in addition to the presence of the president of the European Commission, Úrsula Von der Layen.

Pope Francis already received Pedro Sánchez on October 24, 2020, just over two years after acceding to the presidency of the Government through a motion of censure against his predecessor, Mariano Rajoy.

Before that meeting, more than 100 personalities from the Catholic sphere and 30 organizations asked the Vatican to inform about the meeting to avoid “a unilateral presentation” of the reception by the Spanish Government, while expressing “their concern about the policies that has been proposed by the Government of President Sánchez.”

Thus, they denounced that, since coming to power, Sánchez has implemented laws and policies “that clash head-on with the Christian conception and the Magisterium of the Church.”

Among others, it has promoted euthanasia, the LGTBI ideology, the elimination of the crime against religious feelings, the prohibition of public prayer of the Rosary, the dissolution of the family institution, especially the large one, “discriminatory treatment”, as The Spanish bishops described it as against the Catholic Church related to sexual abuse and, especially, its desire to resignify and desacralize the Valley of the Fallen, which involves the expulsion of the Benedictine community.

Despite this, the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, assured in 2022 after being received by Pope Francis, that the Pontiff “has the same values” as the Spanish executive.

Pope Francis has also received Vice President Yolanda Díaz, leader of Sumar, a communist political force that is part of the Government coalition together with the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), on two occasions.