Arriving shortly after 9:00 a.m. in the Principality for his second apostolic journey, the Pope underlined the responsibility of Christians to commit themselves to the service of law and justice, in an era “where the demonstration of force and the logic of omnipotence hurt the world and compromise peace.”
Jean-Charles Putzolu – Special Envoy to Monaco
A beautiful, historic day, in the colors of red, yellow and white, the flags of the Principality, the Vatican and the azure blue of the Mediterranean on which the rays of the sun are reflected since the first hours of the day which seems determined to accompany the Monegasque day of Pope Leo XIV. Arriving from Rome by helicopter shortly after 9:00 a.m., the Pope was greeted by His Highness Albert II and his wife Charlene. During the welcome ceremony at the Prince’s Palace, the Prince immediately recalled Monaco’s major commitments in favor of peace «déarmée and disarmament»,Âquoting the first words of the Pope after his election, in favor of the protection of “common house” which he interprets as “a demand for fraternity” and “a collective responsibility towards the living”.
First modern-day successor to Peter in Monaco
As for Pope Leo “profound bond” with the Catholic Church. The Pope broadened his remarks to “founding countries of European unity” who surround Monaco and who see the threat of a «climate généralisé de fermeture et d’autosuffisance». So, in an era “where the demonstration of force and the logic of omnipotence hurt the world and compromise peace”Leo XIV recalls that in the Bible, it is often the smallest who make History. “The gift of smallness, with a living spiritual heritage, commits your wealth to the service of law and justice”affirms the Holy Father in Monaco, referring to the smallness of the two square kilometers of the Principality.
Redistribution of wealth
If responsibility is not necessarily proportional to the size of a country, this seems to be the message of this apostolic visit. The Pope evokes “historical responsibilities” that faith, like a “a tiny seed that grows into a tree” asks to assume. Monaco, which included Catholicism as the state religion in its constitution, is home to a certain number of privileged people in the middle of a society of 40,000 inhabitants made up of around 150 nationalities. These privileged people, assures Leo XIV, are called to question the place they occupy in the world. “what has been entrusted to us must not be buried in the earth but must be put into circulation and multiplied”, affirms the Sovereign Pontiff, inviting the wealthiest to commit to “so that everyone’s life is better”, but also to shake “the unjust configurations of power, the structures of sin which create chasms between poor and rich, between privileged and rejected”.
The Princely couple of Monaco and their children with Leo XIV (AFP or licensors)
Catholicism as state religion
Besides the Vatican, only three countries have elevated Catholicism to the rank of state religion: Malta, the Republic of San Marino and the Principality of Monaco. This commits Christians, explains Leo XIV, “to become in the world a Kingdom of brothers and sisters, a presence which does not crush but uplifts, which does not separate but connects, ready to always lovingly protect every human life, at all times and in all conditions, so that no one is ever excluded from the table of fraternity. This is the perspective of integral ecology.”he said, emphasizing that she is particularly close to the heart of Prince Albert II.
By virtue of the link which unites Monaco to the Church of Rome, the Pope entrusts the Principality with a very particular mission: to work towards “the deepening of social doctrine” and à “the development of good practices, local and international”. And the Pope notes that “Even in a little religious and very secularized culture, the way of approaching the typical problems of the Social Magisterium can reveal the great light of the Gospel in our time, an age where it is so difficult for many to hope».
“Thanks to an ancient faith”, which has animated Monaco for more than seven centuries, continues Leo XIV, “you will thus be experts in new things: not so much by pursuing goods that pass away, novelties that often grow old in a season, but by being prepared for the unprecedented challenges that we only face with a free heart and an enlightened intelligence”.
