Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the Benedictine abbey of Montserrat on Wednesday was intended to mark the monastery’s millennium, but it was overshadowed by the institution’s painful history of clerical sexual abuse. The abbey, a symbol of Catalan identity and one of Spain’s most revered spiritual sites, has also been a focal point of the pedophilia scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in Catalonia. In January 2019, this newspaper revealed that three former abbots had covered up abuse for decades, with accusations against three monks involving at least 15 victims. Yet the Pontiff made no mention of the scandal during his address, a silence that, viewed from Madrid, was seen as a missed opportunity to confront a crisis that has left more than 500 victims in the region alone. An Augustinian friar accused of concealing a complaint attended the Pope’s meeting with his order on Sunday, adding to the sense of evasion.

Instead, the Pope used the occasion to issue a broader plea for serenity in public debate, urging the faithful to “renounce hurtful words, immediate judgments, gossip and slander.” Speaking to a crowd of over 4,000 in the monastery square, he called for love to be cultivated in families, workplaces, social media and political discourse. The message, delivered in a context of rising far-right populism and post-procés tensions in Catalonia, was interpreted by analysts in Barcelona as a deliberate attempt to rise above partisan divisions. The Pope’s choice of Montserrat, where the abbot Manel Gasch is known for his Catalanist leanings, underscored a desire to embrace regional identity while steering clear of the independence debate that has polarised the region.

From Rome, the visit was framed as a spiritual pilgrimage rather than a political intervention. The Pope invoked the image of Christ “without armour,” calling for a path of mercy, reconciliation and truth. He warned against the “hidden violence” that can lurk in words and attitudes—criticism that humiliates, condemnation that destroys, aggression that divides. This language, resonant with the Vatican’s emphasis on non-violence, was also a subtle rebuke to the polarised climate in Spain, where the government’s amnesty law for Catalan separatists has inflamed tensions. Yet the omission of the abuse scandal left a void that critics say undermines the Church’s credibility on moral leadership.

Looking ahead, the Pope’s visit to Montserrat may be remembered less for its call to civility than for what it failed to address. The monastery, which celebrates its millennium on Thursday, now faces the challenge of reconciling its spiritual legacy with the demands for accountability. As the Church in Spain grapples with a wave of abuse allegations, the Pontiff’s silence risks being seen as complicity. For the victims, the message was clear: the institution they trusted still chooses discretion over justice. The path forward, as the Pope himself noted, requires truth—but that truth remains elusive in the shadows of Montserrat’s ancient walls.