Pope Leo XIV visits Monaco to urge its people to use their faith and wealth for good

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MONACO (AP) — Pope Leo XIV urged residents of the cosmopolitan Mediterranean principality of Monaco connected Saturday to usage their wealth, power and Catholic religion for good, particularly to uphold Catholic teaching connected protecting the sanctity of life.

Leo made a one-day travel to the glitzy enclave, becoming the archetypal pope to sojourn since Pope Paul III came successful 1538. As a cannon boomed, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene met Leo astatine the Monaco heliport, conscionable down the seashore from the marina that is location to the megayachts of the affluent and famous.

At the palace, members of the royal household stood successful the courtyard waiting for Leo, the women dressed successful achromatic and with lace caput coverings. Charlene wore achromatic — a protocol privilege granted by the Vatican to Catholic royal sovereigns erstwhile gathering popes, known successful diplomatic presumption arsenic "le privilège du blanc."

In his opening greeting from the palace balcony, Leo urged Monaco to usage its wealth, power and “gift of smallness” for good.

It was important, helium said, “especially astatine a humanities infinitesimal erstwhile the show of powerfulness and the logic of oppression are harming the satellite and jeopardizing peace.”

Speaking successful French, Leo urged Monaco’s radical to usage their religion and beryllium “always acceptable to support each quality beingness with love, astatine immoderate clip and successful immoderate condition, truthful that nary 1 is ever excluded from the array of fraternity.”

Monaco is 1 of the fewer European countries wherever Catholicism is the authoritative authorities religion. And Prince Albert precocious refused a connection to legalize abortion, citing the important relation Catholicism plays successful Monaco society.

The determination was mostly symbolic, since termination is simply a law close successful France, which surrounds the coastal principality of 2.2 quadrate kilometers (about 1 quadrate mile).

But successful refusing to let it successful Monaco, Albert joined different European Catholic royals who person taken a akin basal implicit the years to uphold Catholic doctrine connected an progressively secular continent. When Pope Francis visited Belgium successful 2024, helium announced helium was putting the precocious King Baudouin connected the way to imaginable sainthood due to the fact that helium abdicated for a time successful 1990 alternatively than o.k. authorities to legalize abortion.

A coastal playground for the affluent and famous, Monaco is renowned arsenic overmuch for its tax-friendly incentives and Formula 1 Grand Prix arsenic its glamorous royal family. The lad of the precocious American histrion Grace Kelly, Albert spoke successful perfect, unaccented English erstwhile helium greeted Leo astatine the heliport. Leo was heard noting that helium landed 3 minutes late.

Leo's one-day sojourn includes a gathering with Monaco’s Catholic assemblage successful the cathedral and Mass successful the sports stadium.

Monaco’s colonisation of 38,000 is heavy Catholic and besides multinational, with lone a 5th of the colonisation really citizens of the principality.

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Winfield reported from Rome.

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