More than a million people lined the streets of Madrid on Sunday as Pope Leo XIV held an open-air mass in the Spanish capital, organisers said.
He greeted the crowds as he made his way through the city in his popemobile on the second day of his official visit to the country, with King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia among the congregants for his morning service.
Worshippers waved Spanish and Vatican flags and shouted “long live the Pope”, while others threw petals upon his arrival at the Plaza de Cibeles.
During his sermon, he urged those gathered to express their faith by helping others, saying God “identifies with the poor, the downtrodden, those who are alone and forsaken”.