Cardinal Cobo Urges Madrid to Build, Not Divide
On Our Lady of the Almudena’s feast, the archbishop invoked the Pope’s call to disarm words and renew civic friendship amid election tensions.
On November 9, 2026, the feast of Madrid’s patroness, Our Lady of the Almudena, Cardinal José Cobo, archbishop of Madrid, preached at Mass in Almudena Cathedral, calling the city to reject polarization and hostility.
“We must not get used to division or accept that distrust has the last word. Madrid needs columns, not stones to throw. Pillars, not walls,” he said. He added, “Today Madrid needs people who build, not destroy; who bring closer rather than separate. People who tear down walls.”
A call rooted in the Pope’s visit
Recalling Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Madrid five months earlier, Cardinal Cobo said the Holy Father had urged “disarming words” and a way of speaking that disarms. That stance, he insisted, “does not mean giving up our convictions or ceasing to denounce what is unjust.” It means “defending the truth without humiliating” and “disagreeing without turning the different person into an enemy.”
He called for a recovery of “a cordial neighborliness, trust and social and political friendship,” and for “kindness in coexistence.” He thanked the Christians who serve as “columns” of the Church in Madrid—priests, deacons, consecrated persons, and laity—as well as public servants who bear civic responsibility.
The Mass unfolded against a charged civic backdrop: a pre-campaign period ahead of general elections, a general strike scheduled the following day, and political tensions linked to the Urda railway accident, corruption concerns, and the housing crisis.
City vows and a rain-bound feast
Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida renewed the city’s traditional Vow of the Town to the Virgin. Among those present were Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Senate president Pedro Rollán, and government delegate Pilar Trinidad Núñez. About twenty bishops concelebrated, including Cardinals Antonio María Rouco Varela and Carlos Osoro. More than 200 priests took part.
Heavy rain prevented the image of Our Lady of the Almudena from processing through the streets. Cardinal Cobo said the procession would instead take place within each person, to be carried into families, parishes, and workplaces—turning a liturgical interruption into a summons to interior conversion and public witness.
In a capital marked by fracture, the archbishop’s homily framed Catholic social friendship not as soft compromise but as fidelity to truth lived without contempt: building the common good under the patronage of Madrid’s Mother.