Pope urges leaders to temper divisions at start of Spain trip
Pope Leo will meet homeless people in Madrid and migrants in the Canary Islands
Black News 
Pope Leo on Saturday urged global leaders to avoid dividing their electorates with “steriles implifications” to gain popularity and called on them to listen to the world’s cries for peace, in a forceful speech opening aweek-long tour of Spain.
Leo, who has angered U.S. President Donald Trump by criticising his anti-immigration policies and the Iran war, will meet homeless people in Madrid and migrants in the Canary Islands during a visit he has said he hopes will set an example to theworld about respecting “every human being.”
“Today, the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarization seems to have grown rather than diminished, and human dignity continues to be violated,” Leo said in a speech before King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace in Madrid.
“I invite everyone to set aside the divisive and polarizing narratives of your societal reality and history, so as to overcome sterile simplifications through the fruitful appreciation of complexity,” he added.
Technology was partly to blame for creating an environment which magnifies prejudices and weakens critical thinking, Leo said. The world was crying “from its depths for peace,” he said.
He drew on Spain’s history as an example of peaceful co-habitation between religions and cultures, making reference to how Christians, Muslims and Jews cooperated during medieval times to enhance human knowledge by translating Arabic textsinto Latin, Spanish and Hebrew at the School of Translators in Toledo.
“Your own history suggests that a culture of encounter, not confrontation, is what fosters stability and prosperity. In reality, the message of peace, which at present unfortunately strikes some and others as confrontational, is welcomed by those who do not shut themselves off in preconceived ideologies, but are rather open to the truth,” he said.
