Sawt Falasteen - Over one million people attend pope's mass in Madrid

The mass came on day two of Leo's seven-day visit to Spain, a traditional Catholic bastion where religious observance has been declining sharply in recent years as in much of western Europe.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia joined throngs of devotees waving Spanish and Vatican flags in Cibeles Square for a service filled with religious symbolism.

In his homily, Leo said Spaniards should not look at religion as "a museum of the past to be visited, but a school of faith from which to draw even today".

Around 56 percent of Spaniards identify as Catholic compared to 90 percent in the 1970s, according to a survey last month by the Centre for Sociological Research, an autonomous government body.

A huge logistical and security operation was in place for the event, after which the pope led a traditional procession along a route lined with white and yellow carnations -- the Vatican flag colours.

Organisers said more than 1.5 million people attended in the square and the surrounding area, although the central government's representation in the Madrid region put the figure at 1.1 million.

Nico Aldeanueva, 28, who was visiting from Philadelphia in the United States, said the pope was "a very unifying force in a moment where we have division across so many different fronts".

"We have, it seems like, never-ending conflict and for the time being here you get to hit pause and get to enjoy the moment and feel the faith."

- 'Trying to help us' -

Ana Milagros, 64, who was waving a Vatican flag, said she thought the US-born pope seemed "approachable" and "very sincere".

"There is a lot of polarisation and differences in politics, in social matters, in the economy," she said, adding: "The pope is trying with this visit... to help all of us."

Sexual abuse cases within the Church have contributed to an undermining of faith in the institution in recent years, with Leo calling the issue "an open wound" on Saturday.

Associations representing victims complained about not being invited to a meeting with the pope which Spanish media said was planned for Monday at the Vatican embassy in Madrid.

The Vatican has not specified when or where the meeting will be, adding that it would not give further information until afterwards out of "respect for the victims".

Miguel Hurtado, a victim, told Radio4 that the meeting was "strictly controlled by the Catholic hierarchy so that it doesn't look bad and does not affect the figure of the pope and the message they want to convey".

- Focus on migration -

On Sunday evening, Leo gathered with figures from culture, sport and the economy at an arena, with twirling flamenco dancers in bright dresses raising rapturous applause.

Spanish Hollywood star Antonio Banderas highlighted art's role in cultivating faith.

"Art must be an alternative to violence," he said in front of an approving pope, whose pleas for peace have sparked clashes with US President Donald Trump.

"In a world that rushes by, that fragments, that sometimes becomes too simple, art helps us to recover depth and the soul, which AI, that must serve human beings and not the other way round, is trying to steal," Banderas added.

On Saturday, Leo was greeted with pomp and ceremony at the royal palace and joined 500,000 mostly young attendees outside Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium for an evening prayer vigil.

Leo is due to visit Barcelona on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he will notably bless the Sagrada Familia basilica's recently completed tower, which made it the world's tallest church.

His trip will end with a focus on migration on Thursday and Friday in the Canary Islands, a key destination for irregular arrivals, with thousands dying in the Atlantic Ocean trying to reach them.

H.Darwish--SF-PST