Why is Pope Leo visiting Monaco?
What brought the pope to choose to visit the microstate?
Each new pope faces a host of pontificate-defining choices early in his reign. One of them is which European country outside of Italy to visit first.
Pope John Paul II chose his beloved homeland of Poland, then under the heel of communism. Pope Benedict XVI also returned to his native land, Germany.
Pope Francis made the characteristically left field choice of Albania, a country he believed was on Europe’s political and economic “periphery.”
Leo XIV has opted for Monaco, the microstate nestled on the French Riviera. On March 28, he will make a tightly scheduled nine-hour visit to the principality.
Why Monaco? Well, that’s not entirely clear, because the U.S.-born has offered no public explanation.
But let’s take a look at the likely reasons for the trip, after considering what makes Monaco an unusual papal destination.
Why is Monaco surprising?
When Paul VI visited the Holy Land in 1964, he launched the era of the globetrotting papacy. Over the following 62 years, popes have travelled to far-flung countries that had never previously hosted the Bishop of Rome.
Yet no pope has set foot in Monaco in the modern era, even though it is an officially Catholic country under 300 miles from Rome as the crow flies.
Strictly speaking, Monaco did welcome a pope in 1802, but that doesn’t count as a papal visit because Pius VI had died months earlier in France and his body was being transported to Rome for reburial.
Why have modern popes omitted to visit Monaco? The most obvious reason is that it’s tiny, even for a microstate. Its population is a meagre 39,000 and it covers just 0.81 square miles. Indeed, it’s the world’s second smallest sovereign state after Vatican City.
The Archdiocese of Monaco is the smallest diocese on the planet in terms of area. It serves around 29,000 Catholics, around 8% of whom are Massgoers.
Another reason Monaco is an unlikely place for a papal visit is its reputation as a playground for the wealthy. Roughly one in three residents is a millionaire. The principality is also strongly associated with gambling, thanks to the Monte Carlo Casino, one of the world’s most famous gaming houses.
Why is Leo XIV going?
When the Holy See press office announced Feb. 25 that Leo XIV intended to make a day trip to Monaco, it offered little insight into why the pope had chosen the location.
“Welcoming the invitation from the Heads of State and the Archbishop of the Principality of Monaco, Pope Leo XIV will make an Apostolic Journey to the City-State on 28 March,” it said.
The announcement did note that Pope Leo was visiting the country because he had been invited by Albert II, the Prince of Monaco since 2005, and Archbishop Dominique-Marie David, who has led the local archdiocese since 2020.
But all papal visits are preceded by an invitation from a head of state and the local Church, so that didn’t explain the trip’s purpose.
The Monaco archdiocese shed more light in a press release responding to the trip’s announcement.
It said: “The princely family — and with it, the Principality — has maintained a centuries-old attachment to the Successors of Peter. In addition to Monaco’s unique status as one of the very few countries where Catholicism is the state religion, it is well known that the Holy Father and His Serene Highness Prince Albert II share many commitments: particular attention to respect for human life from its beginning to its end; concern for integral ecology and the preservation of our ‘common home’; and a shared passion for sport and what it represents for humanity.”
That dense paragraph presented five reasons for the papal visit. Let’s review them in turn.
1) Centuries-old connection: Relations between Monaco’s rulers and the papacy date back to the 13th century. Few countries can claim such enduring ties with the Holy See.
2) Catholicism as the state religion: This puts Monaco in a very select group of nations that includes Malta, Liechtenstein, and Costa Rica.
3) Shared respect for human life: In November 2025, Prince Albert II made clear that he would veto a bill seeking to legalize abortion in the principality. Such a stand is rare among European heads of state. Albert II’s gesture recalled that of Belgium’s King Baudouin, who briefly abdicated in 1990 to avoid signing a law legalizing abortion.
Archbishop David appeared to stress the significance of the Prince’s move in his letter inviting Leo XIV to Monaco. “Today, amid the challenges facing the world — which affect us just as much as others — Prince Albert II spares no effort in appealing to everyone’s conscience and keeping individual responsibility awake,” the archbishop wrote.
4) Shared concern for the environment: Prince Albert II is nicknamed “the Green Prince” due to his longstanding commitment to protecting the natural world. In 2006, he became the first head of state to reach the North Pole by dog sled. On his return, he established a foundation that supports ecological initiatives around the world. This track record would likely appeal to Pope Leo, who has called for a “true ecological conversion.”
5) Shared passion for sport: Leo XIV is a well-known sports fan who enjoys a game of tennis on his day off. Albert II is a tennis fan, too. The Prince is regularly seen at the Monte-Carlo Masters, a clay-court tournament held annually in April just outside of Monaco.
Albert II also competed in the Winter Olympics bobsledding event five times. The first was at the 1988 Games in Calgary, where he recorded his best finish of 25th in the two-man bobsleigh. He is credited with intervening to ensure that Jamaica’s first bobsleigh team competed alongside him — an episode that didn’t make it into the 1993 movie “Cool Runnings.”
In brief, there are several compelling reasons why Pope Leo is heading this weekend to the nation that the English writer W. Somerset Maugham cheekily called “a sunny place for shady people.”
Thank you so much for pointing that out. I've corrected it.