In a brief visit today to the second smallest European state, Monaco (the smallest being the Vatican itself), Pope Leo XIV had many interesting remarks, including the following:
You are among the few countries in the world to have the Catholic faith as a state religion.
This faith places us before the sovereignty of Jesus, who calls Christians to become in the world a kingdom of brothers and sisters – a presence that does not cast down but raises up, that does not separate but connects, always ready to protect every human life with love, at any time and in any condition, so that no one is ever excluded from the table of fraternity. This is the perspective of integral ecology, which I know is very close to your hearts. By virtue of the profound bond that unites you to the Church of Rome, I entrust the Principality of Monaco with the very special task of deepening its commitment to the Social Doctrine of the Church and to develop local and international best practices that manifest its transformative power. Even in cultures that are not very religious and are highly secularized, the approach to problems characteristic of this Social Doctrine can reveal the great light that the Gospel brings to our time – a time in which many find it difficult to hope.
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