Pope Leo XIV on the 22nd (local time) visited the Republic of San Marino and Rimini, Italy, criticizing war and social division and urging peace and dialogue. He said the unjust power structures behind poverty and inequality, war, and environmental disasters must be exposed, and he also warned against a profit-centered economy and destructive technological development.
According to the Holy See and the Associated Press, the pope said at the Catholic cultural festival Meeting for the Friendship of Peoples held in Rimini that day, "Let us expose the unjust power structures at the root of poverty and inequality, war, and environmental disasters." He added, "Let us free labor from the idolatry of profit, and let us disarm whenever technological development becomes destructive."
The pope emphasized that encounters and dialogue among people are necessary for peace. He said, "If one is a Christian, there can be no enemies," and "Peace is made by people who like to meet and are not afraid to form relationships."
Earlier, in a meeting with San Marino government officials, he noted that modern society faces serious threats from violence and social division and from ideologies that put private interest ahead of the common good. He then described San Marino as "a laboratory of good politics" and stressed that human dignity must be protected from conception to natural death.
San Marino is a country within Italian territory with an area of 60.5 square kilometers and a population of about 34,000. The pope's visit to San Marino is the third, after John Paul II in 1982 and Benedict XVI in 2011. San Marino legalized abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy through a referendum in 2021.