{"id":2050,"date":"2026-06-08T21:05:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T21:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2050"},"modified":"2026-06-08T21:05:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T21:05:04","slug":"pope-leo-xiv-acknowledges-stiff-competition-with-bad-bunny-in-spain-and-weighs-in-on-soccer-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2050","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV acknowledges stiff competition with Bad Bunny in Spain and weighs in on soccer rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE<\/strong> | Pope Leo XIV ackowledged Saturday he is competing for attention with another VIP in Madrid this weekend, and the pontiff declared his preference in Spain\u2019s biggest soccer rivalry.<\/p>\n<p>Puerto Rican sensation Bad Bunny is performing two shows of his 10-concert Spanish tour in the capital.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane before his arrival in Madrid on Saturday morning, Leo acknowledged the appeal of Bad Bunny when he referred to anecdotal reports of a newfound spiritual awakening, especially among young people in Spain.<\/p>\n<p>The American pope said he understood that young adults are sensing a lack of meaning in their lives and mused that his visit might help \u201cawaken\u201d something in them.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIf they are confronted with the question \u2018Do you want to go see Bad Bunny or do you want to go to see the pope?\u2019 I think many will see Bad Bunny,\u201d Leo said. \u201cBut I think there will also be a few here to see the pope. And that says something, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s wasn\u2019t wrong: About 500,000 people, many of them young Spaniards, poured into a Madrid plaza for an evening prayer vigil on Saturday. They shouted \u201cThis is the youth of the pope!\u201d as Leo zoomed around in his popemobile, and then jammed to a Spanish rendition of the 1970s American musical \u201cGodspell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leo is opening a weeklong visit to Spain on Saturday. After Madrid, the trip will also take him to Barcelona and the Canary Islands. He\u2019s hoping to bring a message of unity in a country polarized with political and church scandals.<\/p>\n<p>Leo was also asked about news that plans are moving ahead for his beloved Chicago Bears to move to Hammond, Indiana. The board of the team voted this week to move forward with a stadium development project in Hammond.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if he had any words of consolation for Illinois, the Chicago-born pope quipped: \u201cThat\u2019s out of my pay (scale).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other sporting comments, Leo confirmed that he would root for the United States in the upcoming World Cup, and showed his true team colors when asked about whether supports Real Madrid or the Barcelona soccer team: \u201cThat\u2019s easy,\u201d he said. \u201cThe pope is for all teams, but Prevost is Real Madrid,\u201d he said, referring to his birth name.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pope recalls his father\u2019s service on D-Day anniversary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Leo fielded a host of questions as he greeted journalists traveling with him. He spoke about Ukraine and Lebanon and his recent proclamation that the Catholic Church\u2019s \u201cjust war\u201d doctrine \u2014 which establishes the criteria when war can be morally justified \u2014 was \u201coutdated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With Saturday marking the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, Leo also told a French journalist that he would like one day to visit Normandy, France, as pope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father was there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>It was a reference to Leo\u2019s father, Louis Prevost, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and participated in the D-Day landings at Normandy as part of Operation Overlord, according to the Pentagon.<\/p>\n<p>Prevost also commanded an infantry landing craft, and after 15 months overseas, attained the rank of lieutenant junior grade, according to a note on the Pentagon website published soon after Leo\u2019s election.<\/p>\n<p>After the war, Prevost became a teacher and school principal in Chicago, got married and he and his wife, Mildred, had three boys. The future pope, Robert Prevost, was the youngest, born on Sept. 14, 1955.<\/p>\n<p>Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2044\">Republican senators warn surveillance program may lapse after Trump intel pick backlash<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2046\">Apple unveils new AI features with privacy focus at developers conference<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2048\">Fewer Americans say democracy is central to country\u2019s identity, AP-NORC poll finds<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE | Pope Leo XIV ackowledged Saturday he is competing for attention with another VIP in Madrid this weekend, and the pontiff declared his preference in Spain\u2019s biggest soccer rivalry. Puerto Rican sensation Bad Bunny is performing two shows of his 10-concert Spanish tour in the capital. Speaking to reporters aboard the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1101,1102,149,150,1103,1104],"tags":[3290,3291,3292,3293,86,3294],"class_list":["post-2050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-0-no-apple-publish","category-1gridmagazine","category-a-town-magazine","category-celebrities","category-uncategorized","category-z-other-galley","tag-bad-bunny","tag-barcelona","tag-chicago-bears","tag-louis-prevost","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-real-madrid"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pope Leo XIV acknowledges stiff competition with Bad Bunny in Spain and weighs in on soccer rivalry - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2050\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Leo XIV acknowledges stiff competition with Bad Bunny in Spain and weighs in on soccer rivalry - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE | Pope Leo XIV ackowledged Saturday he is competing for attention with another VIP in Madrid this weekend, and the pontiff declared his preference in Spain\u2019s biggest soccer rivalry. 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