(OSV News) — As Pope Leo XIV prepares to embark on a helicopter ride March 28 for a lightning-fast visit to the tiny city-state of Monaco, the journey is set to be a “laboratory of peace” in a wealthy land of “hidden poverties.”
Speaking to journalists March 25, Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said that the Vatican is the smallest state in the world and Monaco the second smallest, and emphasized that “in the Bible, the small play a significant role” and that the apostolic trip will be the “laboratory of peace.”
Monaco’s Archbishop David
French Archbishop Dominique-Marie David of the only diocese in the city-state, speaking to Vatican News ahead of the apostolic trip, reflected on the fact that the successor of Peter is needed in a place considered a city of luxury.
Monaco is approximately 0.8 square miles (roughly 2 square kilometers) but is a place where “extremely different realities coexist,” Archbishop David said.
“In Monaco, almost 150 nationalities are represented: In a certain sense, the wider world is present in this small space. One often has a somewhat caricatured image of the principality, seen only as a city of luxury. In reality, its wealth derives from the great variety of origins and also from a certain social mixing,” the archbishop told Vatican News.
Small country, ‘important meaning’
Many people work in Monaco without necessarily living there, the prelate emphasized, and for the pope, “visiting such a small country can have an important meaning, since he addresses the whole world.”
Archbishop David told Vatican News that the pope’s mission in Monaco “is to bring the Gospel, strengthen the faith, and spread a message of peace and of the dignity of the human person. It is therefore likely that the echo of such a visit will go beyond the borders of our small state.”
Asked about the poverty visible in the world’s wealthy state he said that “the poverties are numerous and often very profound.”
Material, spiritual ‘poverties’
“There are first of all material poverties, at times very hidden and difficult to see. Around the Principality live many people who work there and contribute to the life of the country, but who at times find themselves in difficult conditions, especially with regard to housing or the cost of living. Many associations, including our diocese, are attentive to these situations,” the archbishop said.
Alongside these material difficulties, however, the archbishop told Vatican News “there are other forms of poverty: loneliness and the crisis of the meaning of life.”
He also underlined that when material worries are absent, other questions emerge, such as lack of meaning.
‘Take care of one another’
“For this reason, our task is to remain attentive to these hidden poverties, to take care of one another, and to know how to recognize situations of fragility which, even if not always visible, are real and at times very painful,” Archbishop David said.
The program of the visit — undertaken under the theme “Je suis le chemin, la vérité et la vie” — “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” is lightning-fast, and will last only roughly nine hours.
After the official welcome at 9 a.m. local time by Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène, Pope Leo will address the crowds on the Palace Square from the balcony in the Prince’s Palace.
Popemobile to Monaco cathedral
The pope will then travel with his popemobile to the Monaco cathedral — a place where American actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly is buried. In the cathedral the pope will meet the Catholic community of Monaco. Later, in the church dedicated to St. Devota — patron saint of Monaco and Corsica — the pope will meet young people, followed by a meeting with catechumens.
The church of St. Devota is a 19th-century Catholic church in the La Condamine district and the seat of the Archdiocese of Monaco.
Pope Leo will conclude his daytrip with Mass at Stade Louis II, in the presence of the princely family, civil and religious authorities, and numerous faithful.
First pope to visit principality
Pope Leo is the first pope to visit this country where Catholicism, as established by the constitution, is the state religion.
Solidarity, Archbishop David said, “fortunately, is very present” in Monaco where “numerous ecclesial or civil associations that take care of children in difficulty, fragile families, the elderly, and the sick.”
“Our mission, here in Monaco, is to be even more attentive to people and not to miss any opportunity to bear witness to the Gospel to those who are in need,” Archbishop David said.
For him, the pope’s visit in Monaco “will be a great grace.”
