As we know, the phrase dates from the year 451, at the Council of Chalcedon (now in Turkey), which defined Christ as one divine person in two natures, divine and human. A doctrinal letter from Pope St. Leo the Great to the 350 Council Fathers prompted them to exclaim: “ Peter has spoken through Leo: This is the teaching of the Apostles .”

Pope Leo XIV has just left Spain, leaving the Spanish people deeply moved by his simple presence and his firm doctrine. Comments based on political criteria (whether national or ecclesiastical) are superfluous. Comparisons are also unnecessary: ​​John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis; one more charismatic, another more doctrinal, another more down-to-earth … No. The faithful have flocked in droves, with jubilation, to see and hear the Pope, the Successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ, the “Sweet Christ on earth,” as Saint Catherine called him. They haven’t gone to see Wojtyla, Ratzinger, or Prevost. Spain has always resonated with the visits of the Roman Pontiff, whoever he may be. This is a matter of theological faith.

It’s true that today—they say—it’s a secularized country. Perhaps so. (I haven’t lived in Spain for forty years.) Less religious practice, more indifference; many even declare themselves atheists, agnostics… but I don’t quite believe it. There’s a sliver of faith that can be rekindled, as has happened these past few days. The word ” sliver ” isn’t used much anymore. But I remember in my childhood how my mother, before going to bed, would sweep the ashes from the hearth and cover the dying embers with them. Everything seemed extinguished. But the next day she would throw in some dry leaves and blow, blow, and the flame would ignite. I think something similar happens with the faith of many people: a sliver remains, and when the Spirit blows, as, for example, with the Pope’s visit, it bursts into a living flame. That’s what we’ve been witnessing these past few days.

And speaking of lions, many years ago I saw a play by Graham Greene called “The Sleeping Lion (in the Greenhouse).” It was about a priest who offers God what he holds most dear, his faith, in exchange for the healing (resurrection) of a young man who commits suicide. The young man lived, but far from God, with amnesia about his past. Suddenly, events unfold, and the faith of both, which lay like a sleeping lion within them, awakens…

The Pope has left on the King’s plane. Everyone wants to tell him, ” Don’t go yet .” But let him go; he has many countries to visit—like Peru, which he promised to visit in November.

And to pray for him: that the Lord may preserve him, give him life, and make him happy on earth…”. And to reap the fruits of the visit.