Pope Leo XIV made a pastoral visit to the Republic of San Marino on this Saturday, August 22, the first by a Pontiff to the small State on Mount Titano in fifteen years and the third in history, following those of John Paul II in 1982 and Benedict XVI in 2011.
The trip, which commemorates the centenary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Most Serene Republic, continued in the afternoon in Rimini, where the Pope participated in the Meeting of Communion and Liberation and presided over Holy Mass in the port area.
Arrival and official welcome
The papal helicopter took off from the Vatican at 8:00 a.m. and landed around 9:00 a.m. at the Torraccia airfield, where the Holy Father was received by the Captains Regent, Alice Mina and Vladimiro Selva.
The procession passed through the castles of Domagnano and Borgo Maggiore before reaching the historic center, where the Pope walked the final stretch to the Palazzo Pubblico amid the greetings of the faithful.
In Piazza della Libertà, military honors were rendered, with 21-gun salutes and the performance of the pontifical and Sammarinese anthems.
Inside the Palazzo Pubblico, seat of the Government, the Pontiff held a private meeting with the Captains Regent in the Hall of the Council of the Twelve and signed the Book of Distinguished Guests.
At the same time, a bilateral meeting was held between the Sammarinese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Luca Beccari, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.
The address to the authorities: freedom, peace, and defense of life
At the official audience held in the Hall of the Great and General Council, Leo XIV delivered the central speech of the day.
“There is no true civil freedom without personal freedom, that is, without respect for and promotion of the dignity of the human person,” the Pope stated, warning that the world often finds itself “faced with political and economic projects presented in the name of freedom, but which in reality are slaves to idols and power.”
The Pontiff highlighted the value of a small State “on a human scale” and proposed the Republic as a model: “San Marino can be a laboratory of good politics where, without renouncing the secular nature of the State, one can draw on the principles of Catholic social doctrine: the pursuit of the common good, the universal destination of goods, the harmony between subsidiarity and solidarity, and social justice.”
Leo XIV also reiterated his defense of life “at every stage, from conception to natural death,” the same formula he used in June at the Congress of Deputies during his visit to Spain.
The Pope also referred to San Marino’s Association Agreement with the European Union, soon to enter into force, and renewed his call for the building of peace, diplomacy, and multilateralism in the face of the “power logics of our time” that “trample” international humanitarian law.
The Captains Regent responded by underscoring the historical ties between the two States: “Your Holiness, your presence rests upon our ancient history like a sign of light, renewing the deep bonds that, over time, have united the Holy See and our Republic.”
Greeting from the balcony and prayer in the Basilica
After the audience, the Pope stepped out onto the central balcony of the Palazzo Pubblico to greet and bless the faithful gathered in Piazza della Libertà, in an image that recalled the visit of John Paul II on August 29, 1982.
“I am truly happy to be here with you, to greet you, to enjoy the beauty, history, tradition, and faith of this people of San Marino. May you always remain united in this welcoming spirit,” said the Pontiff.
Accompanied by the Captains Regent, Leo XIV then walked to the Basilica of the Saint, where he was received by the Bishop of San Marino-Montefeltro, Bishop Domenico Beneventi, and the rector, Father Marco Mazzanti.
After kissing the Crucifix, the Pope presided over a moment of Eucharistic adoration and venerated the relics of Saint Marinus, the Dalmatian stonemason deacon who, according to tradition, founded the community in the year 301 fleeing the persecution of Diocletian.
Before the priests, consecrated persons, and representatives of the ecclesial life of the diocese, the Pontiff stated: “We live in a world wounded by many conflicts, in which we observe with concern the rise of violence, closures, and fear of the other. In the face of these troubling trends, our response can only be to walk with even greater conviction along the path of the Gospel.”
Lunch with the Augustinian nuns of Pennabilli and afternoon in Rimini
Privately, the Pope—an Augustinian himself—traveled to the Monastery of Saint Anthony of Padua of the Augustinian nuns of Pennabilli, a community that during the Second World War sheltered nuns threatened with deportation and young displaced persons from Rimini.
In the afternoon, Leo XIV became the first Pope to attend the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples since John Paul II in 1982, repeating the same itinerary between San Marino and Rimini 44 years later.
At the 47th edition of the event organized by Communion and Liberation, entitled this year “The love that moves the sun and the other stars,” the Pontiff visited the exhibitions dedicated to Saint Augustine and Léon Harmel and delivered a speech in the Grand Auditorium before 20,000 people.
The day concluded with a meeting with the sick and poor assisted by Caritas in the Cathedral of Rimini and Mass in the port area, before the return to the Vatican scheduled for 9:00 p.m.
A centenary and a message
The visit coincides with the one hundred years of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and San Marino, a State of about 34,000 inhabitants and 61 square kilometers considered the oldest republic in the world, whose historic center has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.
After his visit to Monaco last March, Leo XIV thus adds a second European microstate to an international agenda that includes upcoming trips to France and, in November, to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru.