Pope Leo told Spanish bishops his biggest concern is ‘far-right ideology’: report

(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV has reportedly told the Spanish bishops that his greatest concern in the country is “far-right ideology.”

According to a report by Spanish newspaper EL PAÍS, the Pope told the Spanish bishops during their audience in November last year that his biggest concern in Spain at the moment “is the far-right ideology.” He warned the bishops about the rise of political groups that “seek to win the Catholic vote” and “instrumentalize the Church.”

The Pope was likely referring to, among other groups, the conservative VOX party, which emphasizes maintaining Spain’s Christian heritage and is often described as “far-right.”

“The Pope sees that the extreme right uses believers for its purposes,” an unnamed prelate cited by EL PAÍS said.

The Spanish newspaper said that these right-wing groups often accuse the bishops of betraying the faithful for supporting the “anti-Christian” policies of the socialist government, as an agreed compensation for the cases of pedophilia within the Church, or “as a consequence of the [government] aid” that they receive.

The groups are also reported as criticizing the episcopate for remaining “silent in the face of the advance of Islam,” and having told the faithful to stop giving money to the bishops.

EL PAÍS writes that the bishops received a papal directive to watch the activities of the “far-right carefully” and to resolve the conflict with the Spanish government regarding the compensation of victims of clerical abuse. The Spanish Bishops Conference (EEC) had refused to make compensation for hundreds of victims that it did not consider credible.

The bishops apparently acted on the papal directive when, on January 8 this year, they suddenly reached an agreement with the government that called for compensation for all alleged victims.

READ: Spanish archbishop criticizes gov’t agreement requiring compensation for clerical abuse victims

On January 27, the EEC issued a statement in support of the government’s decision to regularize more than 500,000 illegal immigrants. VOX harshly criticized the government’s action and the bishops’ support for it.

“The entire oligarchy hates the Spanish people,” VOX proclaimed on social media at the time, in response to a video by Archbishop Luis Argüello García, the head of the EEC, in which the prelate expressed his support for the regularization of migrants.

VOX and other conservative groups have said that the EEC, by supporting the regularization of illegal immigrants, enables human trafficking, housing speculation, the decay of Spain’s cultural identity, and violence and insecurity on the streets.

The conflict between VOX and the bishops has been escalating in recent years. In August 2025, the People’s Party and VOX approved an amendment in the Murcian City Council of Jumilla to prevent Islamic festivities from being celebrated in municipal spaces.

The EEC responded by calling the measure a “discrimination that cannot occur in democratic societies.”

In response, VOX party leader Santiago Abascal blasted the Spanish bishops, saying, “I don’t know if their position is due to the public income they receive or due to cases of pedophilia.”

The spokesperson for the EEC then said VOX members are the “ideological heirs” of former nationalist leader Francisco Franco, using polemics against the Catholic hierarchy “that should never be heard again in the history of Spain,” especially in the mouths of what the spokesman described as “so-called” Catholics. The archbishop of Tarragona, Joan Planellas, also replied to Abascal, saying that “a xenophobe cannot be a true Christian.”

One February 24, the Spanish bishops released a statement in response to the EL PAÍS story:

In response to reports published in the newspaper EL PAÍS regarding alleged statements made by Pope Leo XIV during his audience with the Executive Committee of the Spanish Episcopal Conference on 17 November, this Executive Committee, meeting today in Madrid, wishes to state the following:

Pope Leo XIV received us with special affection, listened to the interventions of all the members of the Commission, and encouraged us in the evangelising commitment to which the Church in Spain is dedicated. The Holy Father also encouraged us to foster communion among all the members and institutions that make up the Church.

During the dialogue, the Holy Father reflected, among other things, on the risks of subjecting faith to ideologies, without mentioning any specific group. We wish to express our respect and adherence to the Pope and welcome his call for evangelising communion in the society in which we live, with all its challenges.

Updated.