The Holy Father urged Catholics in Monaco to \u201cannounce the Gospel of life, hope and love\u201d and defend the dignity of human beings from birth to death.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo’s Meeting with the Catholic Community followed by Meeting with the Young at St. Devota<\/p>\n
During his meeting with Catholics in Monaco, the second appointment of his whirlwind trip to the small country, Pope Leo XIV warned about the risks of reducing faith \u201cto custom\u201d and called on the faithful to be like Christ, defending the poor and marginalized against individualistic secularism.<\/p>\n
The pontiff supported his reflections in the document Quo vadis, humanitas? of the International Theological Commission, published on March 4, 2026. The Latin phrase means \u201cWhere are you going, humanity?\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope met Catholics at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Monaco, built between 1875 and 1903 in the neo-Romanesque style.<\/p>\n
The church houses the tomb of some sovereigns of the principality, including Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace Kelly, an iconic American actress who became royalty after marrying Rainier III in 1956.<\/p>\n
The Principality of Monaco is one of the last European countries to maintain Catholicism as a state religion, though its 1962 constitution guarantees freedom of worship and expression. In practice it means that Catholicism is taught in schools and that state ceremonies include a Mass.<\/p>\n
In November of 2025 Prince Albert II vetoed a law passed by the National Council that sought to legalize abortion up to 12 weeks. He justified his decision by citing the Catholic identity of the principality and the need to maintain the current legal framework, which decriminalizes the termination of pregnancy only in exceptional cases<\/p>\n
Based on the episode of the Gospel in which the Apostle John describes Jesus Christ as the righteous (cf. 1 Jn 2,1-2), the pope explained that the Church is called to be \u201clawyer\u201d, that is, to defend man in his integrity and all human beings, promoting a comprehensive development that respects the dignity and ultimate goal of the person.<\/p>\n
He asked the faithful to contemplate Christ as a \u201clawyer\u201d and urged Christians to provide \u201cpassionate and generous\u201d service in evangelization.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnnounce the gospel of life, hope and love; bring to all the light of the Gospel so that the life of every man and woman is defended and promoted from their conception to their natural end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The pope arrived at the cathedral after his visit to the Prince\u02bcs Palace, where the Monegasque sovereign family resides.<\/p>\n
A living and prophetic faith<\/p>\n
It is important, the pope pointed out, that the proclamation of the Gospel and the forms of faith \u201care preserved from the risk of being reduced to habit, even if it is good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA living faith is always prophetic, capable of raising questions and offering provocations: Are we really defending the human being? Are we protecting the dignity of the person in the protection of life in all its phases? Is the current economic and social model really fair and inspired by solidarity?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Leo cited Pope Benedict XVI\u02bcs encyclical Caritas in veritate published in 2009: \u201cIs this model inhabited by the ethics of responsibility, which helps us to go beyond the \u2018logic of the exchange of equivalent things and profit as an end in itself?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Alert against secularism<\/p>\n
The pontiff also warned about the \u201cimpulses of secularism,\u201d which can reduce man to individualism and orient social life only towards the production of wealth.<\/p>\n
The Holy Father asked for a new orientation based on the Gospel and to adopt the compassionate and merciful love of Christ.<\/p>\n
Christ, he said, became a \u201clawyer\u201d to defend the poor and sinners, freeing them from oppression and making them children of God and brothers among themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe does not come to condemn, but to offer mercy that purifies, heals, transforms and makes us part of the only family of God,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
The Church, reflection of God\u02bcs love<\/p>\n
The Pope praised the hospitality of Monaco, a small cosmopolitan state with cultural and socioeconomic diversity.<\/p>\n
He recalled that in the Church there are no social classes: \u201cEveryone is welcomed as people and children of God, and all are recipients of a gift of grace that drives communion, fraternity and reciprocal love.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the pontiff, the first service that the Gospel must provide is \u201cto enlighten the person and society, so that they discover their identity, the meaning of human life, the value of relationships and solidarity, as well as the ultimate end of existence and the destiny of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here are the LIVE UPDATES of the Pope’s Apostolic Journey in Monaco.<\/p>\n
This article is republished from EWTN News English.<\/p>\n