Pope Leo “You can have more than hope,” he responded this morning to the four Spanish journalists who were on the plane taking him to Turkey and then to Lebanon, on his first international trip, when they asked him if there was hope for him to go to Spain. “Let’s see the dates,” he concluded.
The Pope had already been invited to travel to Spain by the Archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella, during a visit to mark the completion of works on the Sagrada Familia in 2026. The head of the General Government, Salvador Illa, repeated the offer on a later visit, proposing a trip to Barcelona. A potential trip to the Canary Islands was also hanging on Francisco’s agenda, due to the migration crisis.
Leo Robert Prevost greeted the journalists with a short speech in English, thanked them for their work, then went down the hall and spoke to each one of them. At present, no press conference has been held, which will likely be held upon return from the trip, next Tuesday, December 2.
The Pope has shown himself to be close and friendly, having very relaxed conversations and telling jokes, while agreeing to do so Personal photosOr collected gifts or blessed religious objects. He commented with the Spanish press that he had done the Camino de Santiago many years ago, although only part of it and by car. The Cobb Network correspondent presented him with the shield of his mother’s ancestors in Cantabria, which he received with signs of affection.
In his short intervention, Leo XIV referred to the two basic themes of his journey, peace and unity “in spite of differences.” After saying good morning in Italian, he switched to English and the first thing he did was to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, especially the American press. Then journalists from his country presented him with two traditional pies for that holiday, one with pumpkin and the other with pecans.
After arriving in Ankara at around 10:22 a.m. Spanish time, the Pope will hold a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and address the authorities, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (Spain time). He will then board the plane again to Istanbul, as there are no events planned for the day and he will simply head to the Apostolic Vicariate, where he will be staying these days.