“When the governing party is on the right, relations with the Church tend to be better than when the left is in power,” said Carlos Espaliu, lecturer in international law and international relations and head of the Tomás Moro observatory at the CEU Fernando III University.
“But, right now, relations with this government are better than they have been with other Socialist administrations.”
Touchstone issues
The Catholic Church has not changed its position on previously divisive issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion or euthanasia, Simón said, but these issues “are not on the political agenda, because in some cases they have become normalized, they are no longer debated and part of the right has even accepted them,” he said.
The divisive issues today “are migration and international conflict,” Simón said, and on those questions the pope is much closer to the positions of the Spanish left.
Leo’s visit comes at a delicate moment for Sánchez, whose embattled Socialist-led government is under attack from an ascendant far right that has capitalized on concerns over migration and identity.
The alignment of Leo and Sanchez on touchstone issues makes the visit somewhat uncomfortable for the opposition PP, which under pressure from the far-right Vox has shifted to a more hardline position against immigration in recent months.