Overview
- Pope Leo XIV visited Monaco on Saturday in a nine-hour trip that featured a palace meeting, a cathedral gathering, and a public Mass at the national stadium.
- Speaking from the Prince’s Palace balcony, he told leaders and residents to share their riches and to put prosperity at the service of law and justice, warning about deepening gaps between rich and poor.
- Monaco, a tiny state where Catholicism is the official religion and billionaires are highly concentrated, staged major logistics for the visit with an estimated €5–6 million spend and a deployment of more than 90% of police and firefighters.
- Vatican officials cast the day as small-state diplomacy focused on the protection of life, care for creation, and a call for Europe to back peace and multilateral dialogue.
- Coverage noted mixed reactions to the choice of a wealthy tax haven and ongoing scrutiny of allegations tied to Prince Albert, while the Vatican looks next to an April Africa tour and a June trip to Spain.