Pope visits Spanish prison for first time

Pope Leo visited one of Spain’s largest ​penitentiaries, becoming the first ​pope to visit a ⁠prison in the country, Reuters reports.

The pope, an advocate for the rights of prisoners, urged the inmates at Brians 1 to make amends for their crimes and commit to living ​better lives.

Leo said a person’s past “does not condemn the future but rather offers the ​possibility of changing ⁠our decisions and choices”.

The pope also made a visit to the Benedictine abbey in Montserrat, nestled in a mountain about 60 km (40 miles) from Barcelona, where he urged the monks “to renounce hurtful words, hasty judgment, gossip and slander”, including ⁠on social ​media.

Leo also spoke again briefly in the Catalan language, nodding to the ​northeastern Spanish region’s unique identity.

“That a pope, who is such an important person worldwide, talks to people in Catalan gives (me) goosebumps,” said Montserrat ​Cerdeira, 54, outside the abbey.