This morning, Pope Leo XIV held a private audience with Their Majesties King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia at the Apostolic Palace. The meeting, which took place in a very cordial atmosphere, represents a significant step in relations between the Holy See and Spain, and serves as a prelude to the Pope’s upcoming Apostolic Journey to Spain, scheduled for June 6-12.

According to the statement issued by the Holy See Press Office, after the personal audience with the Pontiff, the King and Queen went to the Secretariat of State, where they held talks with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and with Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.

In these talks, both sides expressed deep satisfaction with the excellent state of bilateral relations between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Spain. They emphasized that the Pope’s upcoming visit will be a high point in these historic ties. They also discussed several current issues affecting Spain, as well as the role of the Church in contemporary society.

Finally, the participants addressed various issues of regional and international scope, underscoring the urgent need to maintain a constant commitment to peace and to strengthen those essential principles and values ​​that underpin coexistence among nations.

This meeting marks the second time that King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia have met with Leo XIV since his election as Supreme Pontiff in May 2015. The first meeting took place briefly after the Mass inaugurating his pontificate, when the monarchs personally extended the invitation to visit Spain.

Friday’s events concluded with a ceremony at the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where Felipe VI formally assumed the honorary title of Protocanon, a traditional link between the Spanish Crown and this important Roman basilica.

The papal trip to Spain next June — which will include stops in Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands — will be the first by a pontiff to the country in more than a decade and a half, and is expected to further strengthen the spiritual, cultural and diplomatic ties between the Catholic Church and the Spanish nation.