King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia joined throngs of devotees waving Spanish  and Vatican flags in Cibeles Square for a service filled with religious symbolism. In his homily, Pope Leo said Spaniards should not look at religion as "a museum of the past to be visited, but a school of faith from which to draw even today". The mass comes on day two of Pope Leo's seven-day visit to Spain, a traditional Catholic bastion where religious observance has been declining sharply in recent years as in much of western Europe. A huge logistical and security operation was in place for the event, after which the pope led a traditional procession along a route lined with white and yellow carnations -- the Vatican flag colours. Organisers said there were more than 1.2 million people attending in the square and the surrounding area. Nico Aldeanueva, 28, who was visiting from Philadelphia in the United States, said the pope was "a very unifying force in a moment where we have division across so many different fronts". "We have, it seems like, never-ending conflict and for the time being here you get to hit pause and get to enjoy the moment and feel the faith." Ana Milagros, 64, who was waving a Vatican flag, said she thought the US-born  pope seemed "approachable" and "very sincere". "There is a lot of polarisation and differences in politics, in social  matters, in the economy," she said, adding: "The pope is trying with this visit... to help all of us." (Bssnews)