Leo XIV travelled to the world's second-smallest state on his first trip outside of Italy in 2026. He called for the 'gift of smallness' to serve justice and peace, reminding the rich city-state that great wealth has an intrinsic need to be redistributed. He encouraged the local Church to advocate for the “forgotten and marginalized.” To young people, he said love “gives stability to life,” urging them “not [to] be afraid to give everything”.

Principality of Monaco (AsiaNews) – Pope Leo XIV's first trip outside of Italy in 2026 took him today to the Principality of Monaco, the world's second-smallest country after Vatican City, one of the few remaining European countries to retain Catholicism as the state religion, while still allowing freedom of worship for its 38,000 inhabitants.

The papal helicopter landed this morning at 9:04 am at the start of a 13-hour visit. Greeting the Monegasque people, Leo XIV said that he was "happy" to be "the first of the Successors of the Apostle Peter in modern times" to visit the city-state, which maintains a lively dialogue between civil institutions and the Church.

Upon arrival, Leo XIV met with Albert II of Monaco at the Prince's Palace. In his first address of the day, the pontiff emphasised that the Mediterranean country “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.”

Leo spoke of the "gift of smallness" which, together with "a spiritual heritage," commits us to serve the "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.”

The papal visit follows the invitation extended by Prince Albert II of Monaco during his Vatican audience on 17 January. Leo XIV stressed the "pluralistic makeup" of Monegasque society, with most citizens of foreign origin, often holding “positions of considerable influence in the economic and financial spheres."

“To dwell here is a privilege for some,” he said, yet Jesus “comes among us and shakes up the unjust configurations of power – those structures of sin that create chasms between the poor and the rich, between the privileged and the discarded, between friends and enemies.”

For the pontiff, “every good placed in our hands has a universal destination; it bears an intrinsic need not to be held back, but to be shared, so that everyone’s life may be better.”

At 11 am, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the pope met with the Catholic community, reading the homily in the celebration of Midday Prayer.

Leo XIV stressed that Jesus’s “compassion and mercy make him an ‘advocate’ in defense of the poor and sinners, not in order to pander to evil, but to free them from oppression”.

Reflecting upon the “gift of communion,” he said that this is a “sign par excellence of the Church, called to be a reflection in this world of the love of God which shows no favoritism”.

He noted the "great richness" of the Church in the Principality of Monaco, “a place where all find welcome and hospitality”.

Although this "small cosmopolitan state” is characterised by “socioeconomic differences”, within “the Church, such variety should never become the occasion of division into social classes. On the contrary, everyone is welcomed as persons and children of God. Moreover, all are recipients of a gift of grace that fosters communion, fraternity and love of neighbor.”

In his homily at midday, the Pope also reflected on the “proclamation of the Gospel in defense of the human person,” adding that Jesus is an “advocate” who defends the “forgotten and marginalized”.

“I think thus of a Church called to make herself an ‘advocate,’ namely a defender of the human person, of every man and woman. This involves a crucial and prophetic path of discernment aimed at promoting ‘the ‘integral development’ of humanity, which respects its dignity and authentic identity,” the pope said.

Leo encouraged the local Catholic community to “give passionate and generous service to the work of evangelization.” To this end, “Proclaim the Gospel of life, hope and love. Bring the light of the Gospel to everyone so that the life of every man and woman may be defended and promoted from conception until natural death.

Offering “new pathways capable of stemming the tide of secularism, which risks reducing humanity to individualism” is the task the pontiff gave to Monegasque Catholics.

Leo XIV then spoke to young people and catechumens in the area in front of the Church of Sainte-Dévote in the La Condamine neighbourhood, after thanking the Archbishop of Monaco, Most Rev Dominique-Marie David, for his welcome.

The pontiff spoke about the story of the saint for whom the church is named, a martyr in Corsica, who “was a courageous young woman who knew how to bear witness to her faith in the face of violent persecution” under Emperor Diocletian.

She “carried the Gospel message of peace and of love even further, despite the attempts to destroy" her, he added. “This helps us to reflect on the fact that good is stronger than evil.”

The memory of Saint Carlo Acutis was recently added in the same church to that of Saint Devota. Canonised by the Leo XIV, and recognised as the patron saint of the Internet, he was a “young person in love with Jesus”.

“Dear young people, these two saints encourage us and spur us to imitate them,” the pope noted. While “even today the faith faces challenges and obstacles, yet nothing can dim its beauty and truth.”

The pontiff noted that in a world “obsessed with unfettered fluidity,” it is “love that gives stability to life.” Indeed, “Only in this way does restlessness find peace,” he said, “not with material and fleeting things, the virtual approval of thousands of likes or temporary, artificial and sometimes even violent relationships. We must clear the doorway of the heart of these things”.

Leo highlighted the need for “prayer, moments of silence and reflection to quiet the frenzy of doing and saying, of messages, reels and chats, and to delve deeper into and savor the beauty of truly and genuinely being together.”

For this reason, he urged the faithful to experience the approaching Holy Week “in a spirit of listening to the voice of the Spirit and to what is happening in one’s own heart, making it an opportunity for a serene and profound examination of one’s life”. This also matters for "charity”.

“[T]rue beauty comes from you, when you are able to look into the eyes of those who suffer or who feel invisible amid the city lights,” he said.

Finally, “Dear young people, do not be afraid to give everything – your time, your energy – to God and to your brothers and sisters, to pour yourselves out completely for the Lord and for others.”

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