The official agenda announced a morning of paramount institutional importance at the Congress of Deputies, but the behind-the-scenes story of the third day of Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic journey to Madrid began to unfold just minutes earlier. In a move as brief as it was significant, the Pontiff met behind closed doors with the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón.

The meeting, which was not among the main events of Monday, June 8, took place in strict privacy and lasted barely twenty minutes. Enough time for a personal greeting, a brief exchange of remarks, and an official photograph that has already captured the attention of political analysts.

According to the Holy See Press Office via its official Telegram channel, after the face-to-face meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister, the Pope took a few moments to warmly greet some of the president’s closest collaborators.

This lightning meeting served as the perfect prelude to the main event of the morning: the highly anticipated speech by Leo XIV before the members of the Spanish Parliament in the Cortes, a stage where Vatican diplomacy and national politics will test their strength today.