The Lehendakari conveys to Pope Leo XIV the Basque Country’s willingness to contribute to a more humane Europe committed to peace, democracy and social justice

• Imanol Pradales invites Pope Leo XIV to visit the Basque Country during his official trip to the Vatican, where he was able to greet the Pontiff during the Public Audience in St Peter’s Square and held a meeting with the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin.
• The Lehendakari presented the Pope with a book by Juan Larrea on Picasso’s painting Guernica; a reproduction of the reinterpretation of the painting created in 1999 by José Luis Zumeta; and a poem in Basque and Quechua by Jon Sarasua.

Lehendakari Imanol Pradales conveyed to the Holy Father this morning the Basque People’s willingness to contribute, with humility, to his efforts in the struggle for peace, democracy and social justice. In addition, Imanol Pradales formally invited Pope Leo XIV to visit the Basque Country and asked the Holy See to accompany and support the 90th anniversary of the bombing of Gernika in April 2027.

The Lehendakari, accompanied by the Secretary General for External Action and Global Basque Country, Ander Caballero, attended this morning the Public Audience presided over by Pope Leo XIV in St Peter’s Square with a programme of proposals.

A meeting of great symbolic and institutional value, which Lehendakari Imanol Pradales described as an opportunity to strengthen relations between the Basque Country and the Holy See, especially given that the Holy Father has shown knowledge of and closeness to the Basque Country, for example through his relationship with the Augustinians of Bilbao such as Father Chus or Father Martínez de Alegría in Gasteiz, among others.

In his conversation with Pope Leo XIV, Imanol Pradales thanked the Holy Father for his work in defence of peace, human dignity, human rights, social justice and care for the planet, among other causes. The Lehendakari asked him to continue this work because of the importance of having voices with moral authority in an international context of great uncertainty, and as reinforcement for the moral compass that Europe and the world need today. In this regard, he conveyed the Basque Country’s willingness to contribute, with humility, to this shared effort.

“From the Basque Country we want to contribute to the construction of a much more humane Europe.” We need to look less towards the market and technology and more towards people. We need to recover humanist values. The Basque Country wants to be present in the spaces where major global challenges are addressed. And we want to contribute, with the humility of what we are, a vision committed to the values of peace, democracy, human dignity and social justice,” stressed Imanol Pradales.

These highly important issues were also addressed by Imanol Pradales following his meeting with Pope Leo XIV, during a private audience at the Apostolic Palace with His Holiness’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Pietro Parolin, who at one time was considered one of the leading candidates to succeed Pope Francis after serving as his Secretary of State for twelve years, is today one of the most influential figures in the Holy See. The meeting was also attended by the Ambassador to the Holy See, Isabel Celaá, with whom the Lehendakari exchanged views on various current affairs issues.

Pradales and Parolin analysed the current state of Europe and the need to reinforce humanist values. They also discussed issues related to restorative justice and coexistence, and Imanol Pradales explained the Basque model for the reception and integration of migrants.

Gifts

The Lehendakari also took advantage of today’s visit to present the Holy Father with a collection of gifts of great symbolic significance for the Basque People, including a book by Juan Larrea on Picasso’s painting Guernica and a reproduction of the reinterpretation of the painting created in 1999 by José Luis Zumeta.

These gifts served to explain to the Holy See that April 2027 will mark the 90th anniversary of the bombing of Gernika, now transformed into a universal symbol of peace and a denunciation of the barbarity of war. In this regard, a request was made to the Holy See to accompany and support this commemoration. “The Pope knows Gernika and the meaning of Guernica as a symbol of peace, a denunciation of the barbarity of war and a universal symbol,” said Imanol Pradales.

Likewise, the Lehendakari presented a poem in Basque and Quechua by Jon Sarasua, as an expression of gratitude from the Basque People to the Holy Father for his involvement and commitment, during an important stage of his life, to indigenous languages and, therefore, to all minority languages and cultures around the world.

Finally, Imanol Pradales also asked the Pope for a prayer for the Basque Country and for Basque men and women, as well as a message for the faithful of the Basque Country. “The Holy Father conveyed to me a message of hope, confidence and encouragement in the face of the challenges of the present moment,” concluded Imanol Pradales.