Basque lehendakari Imanol Pradales will meet Pope Leo XIV on May 13 in the Vatican during a general audience. Sources from the Basque Presidency describe the event as of 'high value' to strengthen Euskadi's institutional presence. It will be the third time a lehendakari meets a pontiff.
Basque lehendakari Imanol Pradales will meet Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday, May 13, in the Vatican, according to sources from the Basque Presidency announced this Sunday. The encounter will take place during a "general audience" in St. Peter's Square, a brief format within a larger group of guests, similar to that used by Iñigo Urkullu with Francis I in 2019.
Sources from the Basque Government emphasize it as an "encounter of high value that strengthens Euskadi's institutional presence internationally". It will allow "sharing spaces for reflection and dialogue on major global challenges and fundamental values such as peace, democracy, human dignity, and social justice", amid "international complexity". They note that the Pope invited Pradales, aligning with his focus on dialogue and cooperation.
This will be Pradales' second meeting with a foreign head of state since taking office in June 2024, after hosting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Ajuria Enea in November 2025. Historically, it is the third time a lehendakari meets a pontiff: first in 1982 with Carlos Garaikoetxea and John Paul II in Loyola, and second in 2019 with Urkullu and Francis.
