Hope and history: Pope Leo prays Rosary at 1,000 year old monastery, visits penitentiary in Spain

During his apostolic journey in Spain, Pope Leo XIV prayed the rosary at a 1,000 year old Benedictine monastery and visited with inmates at a penitential center June 10, sharing with both communities messages of hope and invitation to encounter God’s love. 

During the visit to the Brians 1 Penitentiary Centre in Barcelona this morning, Pope Leo met with three chaplains, a group of volunteers, and a group of inmates, two of whom shared testimonies with the Holy Father. Afterward, Pope Leo gave an address, during which he reminded those present that they are loved. 

“Every human being is ‘worthy’ by the mere fact ‘of having been willed, created and loved by God’,” he said, referencing his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. “There is, therefore, no situation that causes the Lord to turn his gaze away from us. It is a consoling truth that accompanies us at all times and reminds us how his merciful love always outweighs whatever good or evil we may have done.”

“Dear brothers and sisters,” he told the inmates, “this is especially true for you, who bear the burden of being far from your loved ones and who suffer because of your current circumstances. When you are tempted to feel inferior and think it is not worth going on, ‘lift up your eyes’ to the One who, through the presence of so many people, never ceases to show you his love and closeness.”

He reminded them that mistakes do not define one’s identity, as St. Augustine writes about in Confessions, and encouraged trusting in God’s grace and allowing oneself to be “guided and transformed by it.”

In doing so, he said, “we discover in our lives how the past does not condemn the future, but rather offers us the possibility of changing our decisions and choices.”

He encouraged them to invite Christ into their hearts and strive to see His facing, allowing His love to guide them. 

“Let us cling to him, who continually invites us to hope and shows us a wonderful horizon that no physical barrier can prevent us from reaching,” Pope Leo said. “Today, he continues to speak to us in the depths of our consciences, helping us discover that he dwells among us. He is only waiting for us to give him a chance.”

Pope Leo encouraged them to trust in God’s mercy and to pursue reconciliation. 

“To each of you I say: God loves you just as you are, but he dreams of you being even better! The Lord allows us all to start anew, for being human and being Christian does not mean never making mistakes, but rather growing in the ability to convert, repent, make amends and, above all, to reconcile and forgive,” he concluded. “I entrust you in a special way to the maternal intercession of Our Lady of Mercy, and I willingly ask the Lord to bless you.”

Rosary at the monastery

Following the visit at the penitentiary, Pope Leo traveled to the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, patron saint of Catalonia. The monastery celebrated its 1,000th anniversary in 2025 and is located in a mountain range about an hour from Barcelona, according to Vatican News. 

About 7,000 people had gathered in the monastery’s basilica and the surrounding outdoor areas to greet the Pope upon his arrival, the outlet reported. Bishop Xabier Gomez Garcia of the Diocese of Sant Feliu de Llobregat and the monastery’s Abbot Manel Gasch i Hurios welcomed the Pontiff in the basilica’s courtyard, and from there they entered the basilica to pray. 

The Pope stopped for a moment of prayer in the basilica’s Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. Along with welcome statements from the abbot and bishop, the Pope’s visit was celebrated with music by Europe’s oldest choir school, the Escolania, comprised of boys aged 9-14, according to the outlet. 

Pope Leo said in his address after the Rosary that he was glad for the opportunity to entrust his Petrine ministry and the Church’s mission to Our Lady of Monteserrat.

“The walls of this sanctuary,” Pope Leo said in an address after the Rosary, “could tell us the countless stories of devotion, gratitude and hope that have unfolded around the Mother of God of Montserrat throughout the centuries.”

He recalled the Blessed Mother’s command to the servants at the wedding feast at Cana to do whatever Christ tells them, and encouraged Catholics to heed her words.

Her words, he said, “contain a true guide for Christian living, because Mary leads us to Christ and teaches us to listen to his voice, obey his word and allow him to transform us.”

He emphasized that Christ shows people the path of mercy, gentleness, reconciliation, and truth, and reflected on the depiction of Our Lady of Montserrat, who has the Child Jesus in lap and a globe in her hand. The globe marks Mary’s maternal care for the entire world: She invites everyone to see each other as brothers and sisters, according to Pope Leo. 

He urged everyone to put down at her feet “the armor that has gradually hardened our hearts,” such as what he described as the violence of “criticism that humiliates, condemnation that destroys and aggression that divides.”

“That hidden violence can often disguise itself as a kind of armour, which we use to protect our wounds, our fears and the suffering caused by injustice,” he said. 

In comparison, the Pope explained, “The baby Jesus whom Mary holds in her arms wears no armor, and it will be he himself who, later, naked on the Cross, will surrender himself completely to the Father to save us with the unarmed and disarming power of love.”

Concluding, he encouraged everyone to look to the Blessed Virgin Mary and ask for her intercession. He then prayed before the image of Our Lady, after which he went to the basilica’s balcony and greeted the crowds outside. 

“Thank you for this beautiful expression of faith. We are all united as one family, embraced by our Mother Mary, the Virgin of Montserrat,” he told them.

“All of Spain is filled with faith, with love,” he said, “filled with this desire to praise God, to give thanks to God, and to be united.”