Pope Leo XIV has addressed about 40,000 mostly young people at a prayer vigil in Barcelona's Olympic Stadium, speaking in both Catalan and Spanish during the second leg of his week-long visit to Spain.
The American Pope, who is fluent in Spanish after years serving as a missionary and bishop in Peru, received an enthusiastic response when he used Catalan, the regional language of north-eastern Spain's Catalonia region on Tuesday.
Leo's remarks in Catalan followed criticism of an initial Vatican statement that he would speak only Spanish during the visit. Barcelona Archbishop Juan José Omella had said the Pope would try his best in response to calls for him to speak Catalan.
