MONACO, MAR 28: Pope Leo XIV on Saturday urged the people of Monaco to use their wealth, influence and Catholic faith for the common good, particularly to uphold the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life.
Visiting the Mediterranean principality on a one‑day trip, Leo became the first pontiff in nearly five centuries to set foot in Monaco, since Pope Paul III in 1538. On arrival at the heliport near the marina, he was received by Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, with the princess wearing white under the Vatican‑granted “le privilege du blanc” tradition for Catholic royal sovereigns.
Speaking from the palace balcony, the Pope lauded Monaco’s “gift of smallness” and called on the city‑state to resist the “logic of oppression” and the display of raw power, stressing that peace is at stake in the current global climate. Addressing the crowd in French, he urged everyone to “always be ready to protect every human life with love, at any time and in any condition, so that no one is ever excluded from the table of fraternity.”
Monaco, one of the few European states where Catholicism is the official religion, has held firm against pressures to legalise abortion, with Prince Albert recently rejecting such a proposal. The move echoed the stance of other Catholic royals on an increasingly secular continent, in line with the Church’s position on life‑related issues.
The Pope’s schedule included a meeting with Monaco’s Catholic community at the cathedral and a Mass at a local sports stadium. Despite its reputation as a tax‑friendly playground for the rich and famous, the microstate of 38,000 remains predominantly Catholic, with a diverse, multinational population of which only about one‑fifth are citizens of the principality.
