{"id":62718,"date":"2026-06-10T23:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/?p=62718"},"modified":"2026-06-10T23:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:45:08","slug":"more-journalists-than-protesters-at-anti-pope-demonstration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2026\/06\/10\/more-journalists-than-protesters-at-anti-pope-demonstration\/","title":{"rendered":"More Journalists Than Protesters at Anti-Pope Demonstration"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pope<\/p>\n

It was supposed to be the major secularist protest<\/strong> against the Pope in Spain. But as Spanish public television<\/strong> wryly noted: \u201cThere were more media representatives than protesters.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

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It was supposed to be the great secularist response<\/strong><\/mark>.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday evening, as the Pontiff<\/strong> arrived in Barcelona for the second part of his apostolic journey, counter-demonstrators gathered in the Born district<\/strong> under the slogan “Yo no te espero”<\/em><\/strong> (\u201cI am not waiting for you\u201d).<\/p>\n

They had been announcing it for quite some time.<\/p>\n

For the occasion, they had brought together a colorful coalition<\/strong> made up of secularist organizations, Masonic groups, trade unions, and sectors of Catalan separatism and Spanish communists. We previously discussed it<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, highlighting their grievances.<\/p>\n

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Atheists, Communists and Freemasons: The Colorful Spanish Front Against Leo<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\n(05\/26\/2026)<\/small><\/p>\n

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Spanish TV: “More Journalists Than Demonstrators”<\/h2>\n

In short, it was supposed to be the secular challenge<\/strong> to the Catholic event, but things did not go quite as planned.<\/p>\n

Only a few dozen people<\/strong> showed up in the square, many with gray hair and carrying a handful of signs promoting secularism while denouncing pedophilia and the costs of the visit (which were paid for by the Church, not by the State).<\/p>\n

The largest group present turned out to be the journalists<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This was reported by RTVE<\/strong>, Spain\u2019s national public broadcasting service\u2014essentially the Spanish equivalent of the BBC<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To quote directly<\/a><\/em><\/strong>: \u201cThe protest was marked by a significant media presence<\/strong>, far outnumbering<\/strong> the demonstrators themselves<\/strong>. Barely half a dozen officers from the Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan police) and the Urban Guard (Barcelona’s municipal police) monitored the area without having to intervene.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

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\"protests<\/p>\n

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Problems With the Sound System<\/h2>\n

As if that were not enough, the demonstrators also encountered some difficulties<\/strong> that made the atmosphere even more awkward<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The sound system<\/strong> decided to malfunction at precisely that moment, forcing the organizers to rely on a simple megaphone<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Leo XIV<\/strong> was taking part in the vigil at Barcelona\u2019s Olympic Stadium together with approximately 40,000 people<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Certainly more numerous than the protesters were the young nuns<\/strong> of the \u201cIesu Communio\u201d congregation, who the day before had filled the streets of Madrid with joy<\/strong> as they made their way to meet the Pope:<\/p>\n