SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LA LAGUNA, Spain — Pope Leo XIV concluded his seven-day visit to Spain on Friday with an outdoor Mass in the Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa, before boarding a chartered Iberia flight back to Rome. However, the journey took an unexpected turn when the captain announced a technical malfunction moments after takeoff. In an extraordinary display of solidarity, King Filipe VI, who had been accompanying the pontiff throughout the trip, promptly boarded the aircraft and personally escorted the papal flight home, leaving journalists in attendance amazed by the royal gesture.
