Pope Leo XIV received this Saturday in a private audience the emeritus archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, according to the Vatican Bulletin.
This is the first meeting of this kind between the Pontiff and who was for years one of the most influential figures in the Spanish episcopate.
The audience takes place at a significant moment, just weeks before the Pope’s visit to Spain, which has sparked interest about the scope and content of the conversation held.
A key figure in recent Spanish Church history
Rouco Varela has been the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference for the longest time in the history of the organization, marking a period of strong public presence of the Church in Spain.
His trajectory is closely linked to the major papal visits to the country in recent decades. He participated in five trips by St. John Paul II to Spain, in three of them as the main person responsible for the organization, and also in the visits of Benedict XVI, including the World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011.
Continuity in the organization of papal visits
Precisely, the team that worked on the organization of that World Youth Day now forms the core of those preparing the next visit of Leo XIV to Spain.
In this context, the audience between the Pope and Rouco Varela acquires added value, by linking the accumulated experience from previous visits with the current preparations.
A meeting at a key moment
Although details about the content of the meeting have not emerged, the moment in which it takes place invites interpreting it in relation to the papal trip.
The figure of Rouco Varela, associated with a specific stage of the Church in Spain and the organization of major ecclesial events, thus returns to the forefront on the eve of a new visit by the Successor of Peter to the country.