The leader of the opposition in Catalonia and the PSC, Salvador Illa, visited Pope Francis in the Vatican this Thursday, the same day that the Amnesty law is approved in committee in the Congress of Deputies.
The visit is therefore framed in the will of the socialist leader to express his commitment to the Holy Father for “the recovery of coexistence, cohesion and progress in Catalonia, within the framework of a federal model and solidarity with the rest of nationalities and regions that make up Spain”. In fact, the first secretary of the PSC has assessed that Francisco “knows well the reality” that both Catalonia and Spain are going through and has explained to him that “things are evolving well.”
Furthermore, as a Catholic, Illa wanted to express his recognition for the Pope’s leadership at the head of the Church and for “his project of revitalization and aggiornamento”, which the leader of the Catalan socialists considers “especially necessary.” Illa also wanted to recognize the Supreme Pontiff for “the great mediation effort” that the Church is making in the two wars that are shaking the international scene, in addition to showing his “closeness” to the messages, proposals and decisions that the Pope has been issuing in his pontificate, especially “his defense of dialogue and diplomacy,” which is “an invitation to the international community to work to avoid human suffering.”
The meeting with the Pope in the Vatican, which lasted about 40 minutes, took place on the same day that the Amnesty law passed the first filter in the Cortes, in the Justice commission of Congress, after the agreement reached by the PSOE , Junts and ERC. The coincidence has made this so since the request for the private audience was processed, by the leader of the PSC, on January 18, and it was the Vatican that set the date of the meeting in a response to the letter sent almost one month after.
The leader of the opposition in Catalonia attended the meeting with the Pope accompanied by his wife, Marta Estruch, and presented the Pontiff with two books: ‘The Holy Family of Barcelona. When the stones scream’, by Rodolf Puigdollers, and ‘El Brodat de la Creación de la Catedral de Girona’, by Carles Mancho. Before this meeting, on Wednesday, Illa met in Rome with the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, Isabel Celaá, and after the audience with the Pope, the socialist leader met with the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualteri.
Illa’s visit comes four months after the Pope also received the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, in an audience at the Vatican. On November 6, the head of the Catalan Executive was received by the Holy Father at the request of the Catalan president five months earlier, in June. The meeting took place in the midst of negotiations for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez.
In statements to Efe after the meeting with the Pope, Illa pointed out that “chance has wanted my visit” to the Supreme Pontiff to have coincided with “a very relevant moment in Catalonia, the approval of” the law for reconciliation, for political, social and institutional normalization of Catalonia”, a norm that represents “a very important step forward” and that “opens a very positive horizon of hope” for “reconciliation” and to “continue turning the page in Catalonia and Spain.” In this sense, the leader of the PSC has shown himself to be “hopeful” and wanted to express his “gratitude also to all the political formations that have made it possible and to invite others to join in.”
Illa has also left the application of the law in the hands of the judiciary but has stressed that the wording of the norm complies with “the highest standards, the maximum guarantees”, both of Spanish, European and international law. In any case, he has left the decision on his return to Spanish territory in the hands of former president Carles Puigdemont and has considered “a logical step” for Junts to now open up to talk about the General State Budgets.
