Like a kindergarten teacher who denies understanding Spanish when students address her in that language, forcing them to speak Catalan, the adult Catalan teacher feigned ignorance when the Pope’s visit to Barcelona was mentioned. The Catalan nationalist movement is furious with the Church and the Pope because the choir singers’ attempt to display pro-independence flags and sing “Els Segadors,” the Catalan anthem that refers to “striking the scythe to make the enemy tremble,” was thwarted.

A Latino worker who enthusiastically attends Catalan classes since arriving in Barcelona couldn’t understand how such a significant event could have gone unnoticed by his knowledgeable teacher. Every news channel and newspaper covered the citizen movement sparked by Léon XIV.

Apparently, Catalan is being threatened by the Church, and it must be defended with hostile attitudes towards Christians. References to the Francoist dictatorship, which imposed Castilian as the official language, abound.

During the Mass, Catalan was present in the readings, the homily, the greetings, and the singing. But the event was “perverted” by using the language the Pope was most fluent in. Imagine what would have happened if, before the highest authorities of the Spanish state—the president and the monarchy—the Spanish national anthem had been played.

Gaudí, the protagonist of the inauguration, designed a Catholic temple to praise God. He would surely have refused to speak in Castilian Spanish, but he would have seen the singing of “Els Segadors” as a profanation of the faith.

Gaudí, the person, the architect, and the devout man, along with his great work, have become a symbol of Catalonia. That is precisely why we must be mindful of the image we Catalans are projecting to the world.

Pope Leo XIV highlighted the Holy Family as a sign of unity and harmony. He described the Holy Family as a temple under construction, a metaphor for the Christian life, where we are all “living stones” with Christ as our foundation and summit. He emphasized that faith in Jesus is incompatible with violence, war, and indifference toward the most vulnerable. He underscored the importance of solidarity and compassion as expressions of the Christian faith.

The tower was presented as a symbol of hope and charity, transforming “an instrument of death into a sign of hope.” The light of Christ, according to the Pope, shines in the darkness and guides the faithful, making the basilica a spiritual beacon open to the Mediterranean.

The small lamp that was given to each of the thousands of attendees lit up intermittently. It was an invitation to be a light.

The Latin American student, who studies Catalan, had to be told that his teacher must not be Catholic, and that’s why he avoided watching the news about the Pope’s visit. And indeed, it’s understandable that the message of unity in diversity doesn’t align with his beliefs. But his ignorance of the Pope’s trip and his anger at the organizers’ resistance to being politically manipulated does a disservice to the Catalan language. We learn through attraction and seduction, not imposition. In any case, the violence they intended to incite with the singing of “Els Segadors” would have generated the opposite reaction to what they desired. The highest levels of Catalan nationalism were achieved with a government opposed to Catalonia. Thousands of Latin Americans of Christian faith participated in the celebration, the same ones who fill the churches and fill the void left by the natives who abandon the faith to believe in a variety of beliefs. They have exchanged Christian mercy, about which Leo XIV spoke so much, for mantras that lull the conscience to sleep.

And returning to identity, as it is written on the main façade of Montserrat, sculpted in marble: “Catalonia will be Christian or it will not be.” A phrase attributed to one of the fathers of Catalan nationalism, Bishop Torras i Bages. The Holy Father has come to renew this faith that has been the identity of our people and that those who come from afar are rejuvenating.