Article #45341

Pontiff urges followers to dedicate themselves ‘to our brothers and sisters, to the poor, to those who suffer’

More than a million people filled the streets of Madrid to join Pope Leo in an open-air mass where the American pontiff appeared to emphasise the disconnect between Christian values and far-right politics, telling worshippers: “No one can kneel before the Lord and despise their brother.”

Queues to access the mass began forming hours before the sun rose on Sunday as people scrambled to secure a spot for what was billed as the biggest gathering of the pope’s week-long visit to Spain.