On Monday, June 8, Pope Leo XIV will address the Cortes, Spain’s parliament. It’s set to be one of the most significant moments of his apostolic journey. Invitations to speak before such assemblies are a relatively recent development in the history of the papacy. They offer a unique platform for popes to articulate their political and ethical vision to elected officials who often oscillate between open hostility and genuine fascination.
While none of his predecessors had ever addressed a parliament, St. John Paul II was the first to transform these appearances into a key instrument of the papal magisterium. Elected in 1978 during the height of the Cold War, the Polish pope viewed democratic institutions as essential allies in the fight against totalitarianism.
St. John Paul II and the fall of the Wall
On October 11, 1988, he delivered a historic address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The event was briefly interrupted by a protest from Northern Irish pastor Ian Paisley, who brandished a sign labeling the Pope as the “Antichrist.” As the security detail escorted the Unionist leader out, the atmosphere in the chamber remained tense, but the Pope appeared unfazed.
With Europe still divided by the Iron Curtain, he called on the continent to rediscover its spiritual and cultural unity. “My wish is that Europe, willingly giving itself free institutions, may one day reach the full dimensions that geography and, even more, history have given it,” the Pope from the East said.
Following the collapse of communism, John Paul II increased his political engagements in the newly born democracies of Central Europe. In June 1999, he addressed the Polish Sejm in Warsaw. As Poland worked toward integration with the European Union, he reminded the lawmakers that freedom is “both a ‘gift’ and a ‘task,’” and emphasized the moral responsibility that must accompany democracy.
On November 14, 2002, he became the first pope to speak before the Italian Parliament since the country’s unification in the 19th century. This event carried immense historical weight in a nation long defined by the friction between the Italian State and the papacy. A year after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Pope spoke of the dangers of international terrorism and the risks of a globalization lacking ethical anchors. “The political community ... exists for the common good,” he declared – quoting Gaudium et Spes – before an audience that included Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The political theology of Benedict XVI
Under Pope Benedict XVI, elected in 2005, parliamentary addresses took on a more philosophical and intellectual character. A former professor of theology, the German pope sought to examine the spiritual and legal foundations of modern democracies.
One of the most defining moments of his pontificate occurred on September 17, 2010, at Westminster Hall, the heart of the British Parliament. The setting was profoundly symbolic: it was the very place where St. Thomas More was condemned to death in 1535 for refusing to recognize Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England.
Before the British lawmakers and authorities, Benedict XVI delivered an ambitious reflection on the relationship between faith, reason, and democracy. He rejected the idea that religion should be excluded from the public square. “Religion, in other words, is not a problem for legislators to solve,” he noted, “but a vital contributor to the national conversation.”
A year later, on September 22, 2011, Benedict XVI delivered another major speech to the German Bundestag in Berlin. In a moment of irony, the Pope responded to a boycott by Green Party members with an unexpected defense of political ecology. “The emergence of the ecological movement in German politics since the 1970s [...] was and continues to be a cry for fresh air which must not be ignored or pushed aside,” the Pope said, prompting a wave of surprised murmurs among the representatives.
Speaking in his native country, which had seen Hitler subvert institutions for a totalitarian project, he quoted St. Augustine: “Without justice – what else is the State but a great band of robbers?” He criticized a purely positivist view of law and argued for a combination of democracy, reason, and the natural moral law.
Pope Francis and the cry for social justice
The election of Pope Francis in 2013 brought a shift in style. His most notable appearance before a country’s legislative branch took place on September 24, 2015. On that day, he became the first pope in history to address the United States Congress in Washington, D.C.
Making a rare effort to speak in English, Francis paid tribute to four great Americans: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton. To him, they represented liberty, social justice, and dialogue.
“A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty,” he told the lawmakers, calling on them to abolish the death penalty. He also made a passionate plea for the welcoming of migrants, reminding the assembly that he is a “son of immigrants.” The speech received a standing ovation and left a lasting mark on American politics. Republican House Speaker John Boehner, a Catholic, was visibly moved to tears. He retired from politics not long after, and viewed the event as the pinnacle of his career.
A year earlier, on November 25, 2014, Francis had addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Twenty-six years after John Paul II’s visit, he described a Europe weakened by economic crises, an aging population, and the rise of populism. His description of a “grandmother” Europe resonated deeply in the media.
Following his address to the Spanish Parliament in Madrid, Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit the European Parliament in Strasbourg in the coming months. He has already begun preparing the ground by meeting with several groups of European lawmakers. Despite the growing secularization of Western societies, these invitations suggest that the voice of the pope remains a vital moral compass in contemporary public debate.
