– CÁRITAS DIOCESANA DE TENERIFE
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 13 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Bishop of Tenerife, Eloy Santiago, has provided a positive assessment this Saturday of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Tenerife, the final stop on his apostolic journey to Spain. He expressed hopes that 12 June 2026 would not merely be remembered as “a historical event” but as an opportunity to “continue advancing” both as a society and as a Church.
“The assessment of the Holy Father’s visit to our Diocese of San Cristóbal de la Laguna yesterday can only be positive. We thank the Holy Father for his powerful and heartfelt words, which were both stern and hopeful,” remarked the bishop in statements provided to Europa Press by the Diocese.
Eloy Santiago took the opportunity to thank all public and private institutions involved in the preparation and execution of this day, especially the volunteers and the local committee for the visit, as well as “the many anonymous individuals who offered their help to ensure a day filled with emotions.”
“This emotion was evident in the faces of the people on the streets, in the reception centre at Las Raíces, in the Plaza del Cristo, and in the immense crowd that filled the Dársena de los Llanos at the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife,” he added.
The Bishop of Tenerife noted that “there are many images” that will now “remain etched in our memories,” reflecting “a welcoming community, an open people” who “love Pope Leo XIV.” He stated, “Now we need to embrace the words that the Pope has shared with us.”
THE PROJECT OF LEO XIV
In this context, and endorsing the reflections expressed by the Pontiff during his visit to the Canary Islands, he invited everyone to “continue” on the path of “defending human dignity, welcoming migrants, working for the integral progress and development of individuals, and for all nations.”
“May the words the Pope has spoken, his gestures, his looks, and his embraces to those who suffer, as well as his attentive listening, have touched our hearts. Let us all remember this 12 June, recalling: I was there, I saw the Pope, a Pope, on our island, in our land, speaking our language, with words full of love and hope, that touched hearts and moved us,” he added.
Eloy Santiago expressed his hope that yesterday’s event, which marked the conclusion of Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic journey to Spain, “should not merely remain a historical fact,” nor “a fleeting moment of emotion,” but rather that it brings “continuity to our life as a Church and as a society, advancing and contributing our little grain of sand as a Diocese, as a province, and as individuals within our respective realities and possibilities.”
The Bishop of Tenerife concluded with a commitment to make the “grand project” outlined by the Pontiff a reality, which includes “working and fighting against human trafficking, against the mafias that exploit lives for profit along migration routes,” and additionally, to “continue progressing towards a welcoming society, towards universal brotherhood, and to feel ourselves as members of this great family, of this magnificent humanity.”
