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San Marino and Rimini
Pope Leo XIV will make a pastoral visit on Saturday, August 22, to the Republic of San Marino and to Rimini, Italy, with the day beginning at 9:00 a.m. and ending with a Mass at the port of Rimini.
“Pope Leo XIV will make a pastoral visit this Saturday, August 22, to the Republic of San Marino and to Rimini, Italy”
The trip starts with Leo XIV departing at 8:00 a.m. from the Vatican heliport and landing one hour later at the Torraccia airfield, before official honors in Liberty Square and a reception by the Captains Regent, Alice Mina and Vladimiro Selva.
In San Marino, the visit is tied to the centenary of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, and the program includes Leo XIV appearing at 11:15 a.m. on the central balcony of the Public Palace to greet and bless the faithful.
At 11:45 a.m., he will arrive at the Basilica of San Marino, where he will be received by the Bishop of San Marino-Montefeltro, Domenico Beneventi, and by its rector, Marco Mazzanti, for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and veneration of the relics of Saint Marinus.
The second part of the trip begins at 2:45 p.m. with his arrival at the fairgrounds of Rimini for the 47th edition of the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, linked to the Communion and Liberation movement.
Speakers and schedule
At Rimini, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to give an address at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT), and the AFP-linked France 24 report says the event is organised by Communion and Liberation and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every summer.
France 24 lists other speakers this year as Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and Italy's deputy prime ministers, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini.
Before the address, the pope will visit an exhibition dedicated to Saint Augustine, and he will also meet disabled and ailing members of the faith at Rimini cathedral before presiding over an open-air mass at the port in early evening.
The infovaticana schedule places his Rimini program at 3:30 p.m. greeting participants in a space dedicated to children and at 4:00 p.m. meeting attendees in the Grand Auditorium.
The day concludes at 6:30 p.m. with a concelebrated Eucharist at the port of Rimini, after which Leo XIV will bid farewell to authorities at 8:00 p.m. and return by helicopter to the Vatican, where arrival is planned for 9:00 p.m.
Libertas and care
In San Marino, Pope Leo XIV praised the republic as a model of political freedom and civic responsibility, telling local authorities that the Christian message produced “a new community and political model, strongly characterized by the Christian principles of freedom, mutual respect and communion.”
““a new community and political model, strongly characterized by the Christian principles of freedom, mutual respect and communion,””
The Audacy/AP account also quotes the pope warning that modern societies face increasing threats from violence, social fragmentation and ideologies that put self-interest ahead of the common good, and it records his call for Christians to respond through forgiveness, solidarity and concern for the vulnerable.
Vatican News frames the visit as a centenary moment for Leo XIII’s reflection on San Marino, describing the republic as “a laboratory of care for the human person” and noting that it hosts the pope on Saturday, August 22.
In that Vatican News account, Leo XIII affirms that “There is no true civil liberty without personal liberty,” and it adds that “this freedom is given and guaranteed, ultimately, by God.”
The same Vatican News report says the pope cited San Marino’s “tradition of hospitality” and referenced support and hospitality to the Ukrainian people, while also pointing to the commitment to international humanitarian law.