Principality of Monaco, Official Welcome, March 28, 2026 – Pope Leo XIV – From the Heliport of the Principality of Monaco
Apostolic Journey to the Principality of Monaco: Courtesy Visit to H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco Speech by Leo XIV
2026 | March | 28 Prince’s Palace of Monaco
Your Serene Highness,
Dear brothers and sisters,I am very pleased to spend this day among you and thus to be the first of the Successors of the Apostle Peter in modern times to visit the Principality of Monaco, a City-State marked by the deep bond that unites it to the Church of Rome and to the Catholic faith.
Overlooking the Mediterranean and situated among the founding nations of European unity, your land finds in its very independence a vocation to promote encounter and to foster social friendship. Today, these values are threatened by a widespread climate of isolation and self-sufficiency. The gift of smallness and a living spiritual heritage invite you to put your prosperity at the service of law and justice, especially at a historical moment when the display of power and the logic of oppression are harming the world and jeopardizing peace. As you know, in the Bible it is the little ones who make history! Indeed, authentic spiritualities keep this awareness alive. Even when a sense of powerlessness or inadequacy prevails, we need to trust in God’s providence, for we believe that the Kingdom of God is like a tiny seed that grows into a great tree (cf. Mt 13:31–32). Such faith, however, changes the world only if we do not fail in our historic responsibilities.
Photographs of the Apostolic Journey to the Principality of Monaco: Courtesy Visit to H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco
Apostolic Journey to the Principality of Monaco: Meeting with the Catholic Community
Pope Leo XIV Homily Meeting with the Catholic Community
We have an advocate before God: Jesus Christ, the righteous one (cf. 1 Jn 2:1-2). With these words, the Apostle John helps us to understand the mystery of salvation. In our weakness, weighed down by the burden of sin that marks our human condition, incapable by our own efforts of embracing the fullness of life and happiness, God himself approaches us through his Son Jesus Christ. The Apostle tells us that Jesus, as a sacrificial victim, took upon himself the evil found in humanity and in the world, that he carried it with us and for us, and that he has overcome this evil, transforming it and freeing us forever.
Photographs of Apostolic Journey to the Principality of Monaco Meeting with the Catholic Community
Apostolic Journey to the Principality of Monaco: Meeting with Youth and Catechumens
2026 | March | 28 In front of the Church of Sainte-Dévote at 11:45 a.m.