Madrid (AFP) - Pope Leo XIV on Saturday called for an end to “polarising narratives” and “sterile simplifications” on a week-long visit to Spain expected to focus on the divisive issue of immigration.

Leo also thanked Spain, whose Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has clashed with US President Donald Trump over Iran and with Israel over the war in Gaza, for its “faithful adherence to international law and multilateralism”.

Speaking at the royal palace in Madrid, where he was received by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, he praised Spain’s “active commitment to peace and solidarity among peoples”.

The US-born pontiff himself has been harshly criticised by Trump for his anti-war views.

The pope said the message of peace “at present unfortunately strikes some as naive and others as confrontational”, but should instead be “welcomed by those who do not shut themselves off in preconceived ideologies”.

In contrast with many of its European allies, Spain’s left-wing government has a relatively liberal immigration policy.

But it is under pressure from the main conservative Popular Party and far-right, anti-immigration Vox, the third political force in the country.

- ‘Change history’ -

Leo later met beneficiaries of a centre for the homeless run by Catholic charity Caritas, extolling its mission against mistaken “secular ideologies” and those who “dismiss or ridicule charitable works”.

In the evening, the 70-year-old pontiff led a prayer vigil at a square next to Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium teeming with 500,000 mostly young people, according to an official tally.

The faithful, including many families and children, gave him a rock-star welcome with chants, cheers and Spanish and Vatican flags, while youngsters danced and jumped in circles before Leo’s arrival.

“His message from this morning seems pretty good to me because God is very good,” an excited Carlota Elices, 12, told AFP before the event, marked by energetic musical performances.

Teacher Pablo Fernandez said he went because of “a historic opportunity” to see the head of the world’s more than one billion Catholics.

The 28-year-old praised the pope’s anti-war message as “common sense”. “As for migration, we cannot take responsibility for everyone, it has to be collective,” he added.

Leo exhorted youth at the vigil to lead the way in today’s world and use faith to “change history”.

“In the face of the emptiness of indifference and compliance, before the violence of war and lies, you must be the sparks of a new humanity,” he said.

Leo’s predecessor Francis largely overlooked many of Europe’s traditional bastions of Catholicism where, like Spain, religious observance has been falling rapidly.

But Leo had told journalists on the papal plane earlier on Saturday that he was “very pleased by the reports” that young people were increasingly interested in the Church.

“They realise there’s an emptiness, and a lack of a sense of meaning, and perhaps my visiting is helping to awaken” something, he said.

- ‘Open wound’ -

The state visit, also set to focus on social justice and inequality, will include an unprecedented address to the Spanish parliament and a meeting with victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

Around 200,000 minors are estimated to have suffered abuse in Spain since 1940, according to a 2023 report from Spain’s national ombudsman.

Speaking to reporters on the plane before landing in Madrid, Leo said abuse remained “an open wound”.

King Felipe hailed the pope’s “clarity and firmness” on the issue, saying they were “essential in the process of healing and reparation of the damage inflicted”.

Sanchez’s government and the Church in Spain signed an agreement in March to compensate victims after years of reticence and opacity from the Catholic hierarchy.

On Sunday, around a million people are set to attend the pope’s mass in Madrid city centre.

Leo will then travel to Barcelona, where on Wednesday he will bless the new tower of the Sagrada Familia Basilica – now the world’s tallest church.

In the Canary Islands on Thursday and Friday, Leo will be joined by Sanchez to honour thousands of migrants who have died trying to reach Europe.