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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
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