Pope Leo arrives in Monaco, calls on Catholic state to deepen commitment to Church’s social doctrine

March 28, 2026

Following a two-hour helicopter flight from Vatican City, during which papal telegrams were sent to the Italian and French presidents, Pope Leo XIV arrived this morning in Monaco, where he was welcomed by Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene at the Monaco Heliport (video).

The one-day visit to Monaco is the second apostolic journey of Leo’s pontificate and the first of 2026. In late November and early December, the Pope visited Turkey and Lebanon.

After his arrival, the Pontiff paid a courtesy visit to Prince Albert at the Prince’s Palace. The Prince drew the Pope’s attention to frescoes depicting the visit of Pope Paul III in 1538 and the passage of the body of Pope Pius VI through Monaco in 1802.

The Prince and the Pontiff each addressed the crowds from a balcony (video).

“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,” Pope Leo said. “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,” he continued. “As you know, in the Bible it is the little ones who make history!”

The Pontiff urged Monaco’s citizens to put their talents at the service of others:

As Jesus suggests in the parable of the talents, what has been entrusted to us must not be buried in the ground, but placed at the service of others and multiplied within the perspective of the Kingdom of God. What is more, this perspective is not limited to the private sphere, still less to a utopian vision of the world. On the contrary, the Kingdom of God, to which Jesus dedicated his life, is close, for it 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.

Every talent, every opportunity and 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. This is why Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt 6:11). At the same time he says, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Mt 6:33). This logic of freedom and sharing lies at the heart of the parable of the Last Judgment, which places the poor at its center: Christ the Judge, seated on the throne, identifies with each one of them (cf. Mt 25:31–46).

Monaco’s constitution recognizes the religion freedom of all and declares that “the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religion is the religion of the State.” The status of Catholicism in Monaco, said Pope Leo, is a call to “deeper commitment” to Catholic social doctrine:

“You are among the few countries in the world to have the Catholic faith as a state religion,” Pope Leo noted. “This faith places us before the sovereignty of Jesus, who calls Christians to become in the world a kingdom of brothers and sisters—a presence that does not cast down but raises up, that does not separate but connects, always 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.”

The Pope added:

By virtue of the profound bond that unites you to the Church of Rome, I entrust the Principality of Monaco with the very special task of deepening its commitment to the Social Doctrine of the Church and to develop local and international best practices that manifest its transformative power. Even in cultures that are not very religious and are highly secularized, the approach to problems characteristic of this Social Doctrine can reveal the great light that the Gospel brings to our time—a time in which many find it difficult to hope.

According to The World Almanac and Book of Facts (2026 edition), Monaco (map) has a population of 32,000 and is 86% Christian (83% Catholic) and 1% Jewish. According to Vatican statistics, Monaco has a population of 38,400 and is 82% Catholic.

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CWN coverage of the Pope’s apostolic journey to Monaco:

• Pope Leo arrives in Monaco, calls on Catholic state to deepen commitment to Church’s social doctrine (3/28/26)
• Pope, in Monaco homily, emphasizes communion, evangelization, defense of human person (3/28/26)

 

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Further information:

• Apostolic Journey of the Holy Father to the Principality of Monaco (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 3/28/26)
• Apostolic Journey to the Principality of Monaco: Courtesy Visit to H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 3/28/26)