Pope Leon XIV, who began his visit to Barcelona today, met 40,000 believers at the Olympic Stadium. During the prayer vigil, he condemned “the idolatry of profit and productivity” and said that intellectual wellness is increasingly threatened in developed societies.
In Barcelona, as before in Madrid, the Pope was enthusiastically welcomed by thousands of people.
Before the prayer vigil, he blessed the 33 ambulances for Ukraine parked at the stadium. They will be sent to Russia's attacked country as part of a humanitarian task led by Argentine Dominican sister Lucia Caram of the monastery in Catalonia.
At the historical Olympic Stadium while talking to young people The Pope noted that many people rediscover the Christian faith, sometimes after the period during which they distanced themselves from the Church.
– Our desire for fact and happiness needs a wider horizon," said Leon XIV.
– In our societies, idolatry of profit and productivity, the feverish request to constantly produce and win, as well as the cult of their own image, are only anesthetics that lull our conscience and adjust it to a certain imagination of society. erstwhile people learn to stop, give value to crucial things, re-appreciate time and reflect on their lives, allowing the Gospel to enlighten them, they besides make critical reasoning towards a social strategy that does not put a individual at the centre and leads to injustice and existential poorness at various levels," he said.
He answered 3 youth questions; 1 afraid depression that affects many people.
Leon XIV noted that in the face of depression, called "a silent illness", it is essential to realise that "mental wellness is increasingly at hazard in societies that consider itself developed".
APW, PAP
