Pope Leo XIV made a brief but symbolic visit to the Principality of Monaco on Saturday, calling on the wealthy city-state to put its prosperity “at the service of law and justice” and to make constructive use of what he called its “gift of smallness.” He is the first pope to visit Monaco since Pope Paul II in 1538.
The pontiff arrived from Rome by helicopter, a trip of roughly 90 minutes, and was greeted at Monaco’s heliport by Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene. On arrival the pope joked that they were three minutes late. Other members of the royal family stood at the palace; most women wore black and covered their hair in keeping with Vatican protocol, while Princess Charlene wore white, a privilege historically accorded to certain Catholic female royals.
Inside the palace the pope met the prince and princess and presented Prince Albert with a Vatican studio mosaic of St. Francis of Assisi, the saint known for renouncing wealth to serve the poor. Leo also visited Monaco’s cathedral and celebrated Mass in a nearby sports stadium, drawing local worshippers and reinforcing the pastoral side of the trip.
From the palace balcony the American pope addressed the crowd in French, decrying “unjust configurations of power” and the “structures of sin that dig chasms between poor and rich, between the privileged and the rejected.” He warned against a “logic of omnipotence” that undermines peace and urged that wealth be directed toward law and justice, particularly as global conflicts escalate.
Monaco remains one of the few European states with Catholicism as its official religion, and Prince Albert has in recent years publicly defended Catholic teaching amid a more secular European landscape. Last year the prince blocked a proposed bill to legalize abortion, citing the role of Catholicism in society — a move whose practical impact was limited by the fact that abortion is a constitutional right in neighboring France.
Commenting on the visit, Prince Albert told Nice-Matin that the pope’s presence “is a powerful sign testifying to the principality’s importance within the Catholic Christian world.” The trip underscored Monaco’s continuing religious and diplomatic ties to the Vatican and highlighted the pope’s appeal to moral responsibility among the wealthy.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko