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Surprise audience in Madrid
Pope Leo XIV met privately with Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid on Monday, June 8, the Vatican confirmed on Tuesday, June 9.
“BARCELONA (RNS) – Pope Leo XIV and Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny met privately on Monday (June 8) at the Bernabéu stadium in Madrid, where 80,000 Catholics from Spanish dioceses had gathered to see the pope”
The Vatican said Pope Leo “greeted them briefly before leaving the stadium,” with Bad Bunny “with his family and some other people,” and no images of the encounter were released.
Avvenire described the meeting as an “incontro a sorpresa e inaspettato” that happened aboard the Iberia flight from Madrid to Barcelona, where the commander Pablo Martínez Núñez invited the pontiff to pass by the command area as Leone XIV saw an escort fighter and spoke with pilots.
Avvenire also reported that Leone XIV’s first public stop in Catalonia was in the Cattedrale di Sant’Eulalia for the prayer of the Ora Media, with “Migliaia di persone” waiting along the streets and outside the cathedral.
No photos, brief greetings
KTLA said the Vatican revealed the meeting at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on Monday evening and that “no photos of the meeting are expected to be released.”
In the same report, the Vatican statement obtained by Reuters said the pope met the “reggaeton sensation” and “He offered them a short greeting before leaving the stadium.”
OSV News reported that Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni confirmed the meeting to reporters June 9 and that Bad Bunny “comes from a Catholic family and he wanted to meet the pope.”
OSV News also quoted general coordinator Yago de la Cierva saying, “The deal was — meeting, yes, but no pictures — and Bad Bunny respected it,” while describing the encounter as “friendly and familiar.”
Tour overlap and next dates
Multiple outlets tied the meeting to scheduling overlap, with Billboard saying the pope was in Madrid for the first part of his Apostolic Journey to Spain while Bad Bunny had been in the city since late May for a 10-concert residency at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
“Trending on Billboard Pope Leo XIV received Bad Bunny in a private meeting held in Madrid, the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE reported exclusively on Tuesday (June 9), later confirmed by a statement from the Vatican”
Billboard reported that Bad Bunny’s representatives contacted the Spanish Episcopal Conference weeks earlier to explore a meeting, and that the idea was raised for him to participate in a mass gathering in the Plaza de Cibeles before “a crowd of over a million people… although, in the end, it did not happen.”
Crux said Bad Bunny’s remaining shows in Madrid were scheduled for June 10, 11, 14 and 15 at Madrid’s Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium, and it noted that the Vatican will publish no photos of the meeting.
Avvenire framed the pope’s remarks to young people as a message of unity, including the line: «Vi invito a rinnovare, concordi, il proposito di camminare insieme, tutti, fedeli e pastori».
