Barcelona prisoners receive empathetic speech from Pope Leo XIV: 'Life's mistakes do not determine a person's identity'

A prison visit was part of Pope Leo XIV's agenda during his stay in Spain. He fulfilled his wish on Wednesday, with a trip to the Brians 1 prison on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Such initiatives resemble late Pope Francis's approach to international trip agendas and Holy Week programmes.

On his second day in Barcelona, Robert Prevost visited the Barcelona prison, which has separate areas for men and women. Before the inmates, the Pope abandoned all shyness that marked the beginning of his pontificate and demonstrated a warmer and more approachable demeanour.

At one point during his visit, Leo XIV embraced two inmates after hearing their testimonies and joked about the "technological difficulties" in adjusting the microphone height.

After offering a few words of greeting in Catalan to everyone present, he naturally switched to Spanish, as he had done the previous day. He addressed everyone, especially the inmates, offering words of consolation: "Life's mistakes do not define a person's identity."

Drawing on a quote from his recent encyclical (Magnifica Humanitas), in which he analysed the current challenges for individuals and society in light of the rise of artificial intelligence, he reminded those present that "every human being is worthy simply by virtue of having been willed, created and loved by God".

Pope Leo XIV said that God's "merciful love is always greater than any good or evil we may have done".

During his brief address, Leo XIV also quoted Saint Augustine, the inspiration behind the religious congregation to which he belonged and of which he was prior general. He recalled one of Augustine's most important texts, the Confessions: "The past does not condemn the future, but rather offers us the possibility of changing our decisions and choices."

For the Pope, "being human and being Christian" does not mean making "no mistakes", but rather having the capacity to "convert, repent, amend one's ways and, above all, reconcile and forgive".

The Pope shared the spotlight with two inmates, Montse and Josefina. Montse recounted how she had confronted the "silence of God", especially after the death of her son. "I have struggled with it a lot and it has taken me a lifetime to understand that God is not to blame," Montse said.

She described the unusual way she had overcome her sleep difficulties: "I suffered for a long time from severe insomnia, which had no solution even with medication and hospitalisation. One night, while holding onto a cross, I was able to sleep."

Josefina said that she had grown up in a religious family, but her faith wavered after her son's accident. "I've always been very impulsive and my impulsiveness led me to question God. To ask Him for explanations about everything. I've always questioned everything, but never as much as after my son's accident," she said. The fact that her son survived is, for Josefina, "a miracle" that has ultimately confirmed her faith.