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Pope Leo’s address to bishops, priests, deacons, religious,
seminarians and pastoral workers of Gran Canaria
Saint Anne’s Cathedral (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Dear brother bishops, priests, men and women religious, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,
It is a great joy for me to share this gathering with you.
Thank you for your warm welcome, for your kind presence and for your testimonies, which reflect a living Church, in whose heart echoes the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially those who are poor or afflicted.
I come to these islands as a father and brother in the faith.
With you I am a Christian, and for you, I am a bishop.
As we heard in the reading from the Letter to the Ephesians, each of us has received various gifts and ministries for the building up of the body of Christ,
This is the Lord’s call that resonates anew in our hearts today and confirms our vocation and mission: to build the Church together, founded on Christ, the “cornerstone”, to build on what is good, to harmonize our differences and to work together for the good of all.
I would like us to reflect together on two attitudes that we must keep in mind in our Christian life in order to be “wise architects” in building the civilization of love.
Whether you are native Canarians or have made the Canary Islands your home, you have the privilege of enjoying the majestic presence of the sea every day, People of God on a pilgrimage through lands surrounded by the Atlantic.
They say that for islanders, the image of the sea, which evokes the taste of home, remains etched in their pupils forever. They say it is sorely missed when one is far away, “inland.”
This feeling corresponds to a healthy nostalgia for the vastness of the open sky and sea stretching to the horizon without limits or borders.
It is also found in a sensitive heart that is ready to bid farewell with tears to those who leave and welcome with open arms those who arrive.
In this sense, the sea can also be synonymous with distance, separation, challenge, and the journey ahead.
In this regard, St. Augustine tells us: “If someone were to glimpse his homeland from afar, but a sea stood between them: he sees where to go, but does not know the way.
So it is with us: we long to reach our final destination, […] but the sea of this world stands in our way […] to show us the way, the One to whom we longed to go came himself.
And what did he do? He appointed a tree by which we may cross the sea.
No one is able to cross the sea of this world unless they carry the cross of Christ”.
Embracing the cross of Christ is the first step in in navigating life’s waters and reaching our destination, the heavenly homeland.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The saints longed for God.
As they faced the storms of life, they knew how to take Jesus into their boats.
They trusted in him and embraced the cross and thus calming the waves of uncertainty and fear (cf. Matthew 8:23-27 – 23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”).
Among the many examples in these blessed lands is the Venerable Antonio Vicente González, a diocesan priest also known as “the Good Shepherd of the Canary Islands.”
His life, transfigured by divine grace, encourages us to take up the cross of Christ and follow him (Matthew 16:24).
In this new chapter of history, which is not without turbulence and conflict, we must be faithful witnesses to the Gospel so that we may reach the promised destination.
John 12:32 – when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself”
The first “guiding principle,” therefore, is to take up the cross of Christ.
Every day, you act as Good Samaritans, helping to carry the burdens of those who are suffering from life’s trials. I thank you for your generous acts of charity and mercy
I would also like to highlight another practice: cultivating a Eucharistic spirituality.
This is connected to the ancient tradition preserved in this beautiful cathedral: the showering of flower petals before the Blessed Sacrament on the Solemnity of the Ascension, as a sign of the spiritual and heavenly gifts that the Lord pours out as he ascends into heaven.
This gesture of devotion, practiced by so many generations over time, has a profound meaning: on our pilgrimage, the goal is the encounter with Chris.
He is the center of Christian life.
He is the center of Christian life. We bow our knees in adoration before him, gather around him to form one body, and offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1).
The Second Vatican Council tells us: the faithful, “taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, the source and summit of the Christian life, … offer the divine victim to God and themselves along with him.
And so it is that, … they manifest in a concrete way that unity of the people of God” (Lumen Gentium, 11).
Therefore, cultivating a Eucharistic spirituality means delving deeper into “a spirituality of ecclesial unity in love”.
Let us make our lives a response to Jesus’ desire: “that they may all be one … so that the world may believe” (John 17:21).
One way to express this spirituality of communion is through Christian solidarity, because union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives himself.
Therefore, I encourage you to offer the love you have received from the Lord to everyone.
(1 John 4:19 – We love, because he first loved us) — a love that becomes nourishment through hospitality, listening, closeness and care for the most vulnerable: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25:35–36).
Dear Pilgrim Church in the Canary Islands,
Following in the footsteps of the holiness of the many men and women who have gone before you—who offered their lives in communion with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and at the altar—I encourage you to persevere, firmly rooted in Him. May you continue to navigate this new era of history with courage.
When you encounter difficulties, look up and ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to live united in faith, hope, and charity—virtues that are like three stars rising in the sky of our spiritual life to guide us to God.
May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Stella Maris, guide us on our journey.
May she help us to “put out into the deep” and thus lead us to the safe harbor of our final encounter with her Son, Jesus Christ.
Thank you!
