Monaco, Monaco. Pope Leo visited Monaco on Saturday and urged residents to share their wealth and help those in need. He met with Prince Albert and addressed Monaco’s royal family and leading residents.
Message to Monaco’s residents
“In God’s eyes, nothing is received in vain!” Leo said. “Every good placed in our hands… bears an intrinsic need not to be held back, but to be shared, so that everyone’s life may be better.”
At Prince Albert’s official residence, a 12th-century fortress with lavish apartments overlooking the Mediterranean, Leo urged residents to “put your prosperity at the service of law and justice”.
Visit details and meeting with Prince Albert
Leo arrived after a 90-minute helicopter ride from the Vatican and first met with Prince Albert, Monaco’s head of state and son of the late Hollywood star Grace Kelly.
He is the first pope in nearly five centuries to visit the Mediterranean enclave.
Gift highlighting support for the poor
In an official gift to Albert, the pope gave a colourful artwork created by the Vatican’s mosaic studio depicting St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century son of a prosperous Italian merchant who renounced his inheritance to help the poor.
Monaco’s profile
Monaco is the second smallest state in the world after the Vatican and one of the last countries with Catholicism as the state religion. It has the highest concentration of billionaires per capita in the world.
Pope Leo’s background and travel plans
Leo, the first U.S. pope, was elected in May to succeed the late Pope Francis as head of the 1.4-billion-member Church.
His visit to Monaco was only his second outside Italy and comes ahead of a busy travel year. Leo, 70, is expected to undertake a four-country tour of Africa in April and is due to make a week-long visit to Spain in June.
How do you think wealthy communities should respond to calls to share prosperity with those in need?
