All posts tagged: Spaniards

Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can’t wait for Pope Leo’s visit

Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can’t wait for Pope Leo’s visit

Published by Sam Flores

Until three years ago, Sara Cabral’s faith experience was on trend with other Southern European youth — a “Catholic but never practicing” upbringing with little relevance to her life on Spain’s Canary Islands. Then she listened to a song from a faith youth group that felt as if God were speaking to her. She joined the group, and now in addition to its weekly adoration with music sessions, Cabral is excitedly preparing to attend Pope Leo XIV ’s Mass in Gran Canaria with her friends. “You get a restlessness about an emptiness that you don’t know how to fill,” Cabral, 26, says of her embrace of Catholicism. “God is the one looking for you first, but you need to go meet him.” On trips to Spain this month and France in September, Leo will find thousands of young people like her in these traditionally Catholic but now staunchly secular countries, where historic churches are abundant and Mass attendance is sparse. Church leaders and some experts see the success of youth movements and the surge in …

Far-right ‘Spaniards first’ policy looms over Andalusia election – POLITICO

Far-right ‘Spaniards first’ policy looms over Andalusia election – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“This [issue] hurts the PP, because it has had to make concessions which it doesn’t necessarily believe in,” said Vallespín at Madrid’s Autonomous University. “It has been very easy for Vox to have a clear position on this but the PP doesn’t seem to have managed that yet.” The Catholic Church, usually seen to be close to the PP, has also spoken out against national priority. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has recently boosted his international reputation by standing up to U.S. President Donald Trump. | Paolo Blocco/Getty Images Sánchez on the attack Even though Prime Minister Sánchez has recently boosted his international reputation by standing up to U.S. President Donald Trump, he has been struggling to score points at home. The fight over national priority has given him an opening. As he addressed supporters on the campaign trail in Andalusia, Sánchez described the previous PP-Vox regional accords as “mansplainers’ pacts” and he said the two parties on the right had given the constitution “a kicking and violated the principle of non-discrimination.” Flipping the buzzword to …