Pope Leo
Iyunade Grace
Pope Leo XIV is set to make a pastoral visit to the Republic of San Marino, today Saturday, August 22, 2026, before traveling a short distance to the Italian city of Rimini in the afternoon. The trip was announced by the Prefecture of the Papal Household and comes in response to an invitation extended by San Marino’s former Captains Regent, Matteo Rossi and Lorenzo Bugli. It is part of a series of domestic pastoral visits the Holy Father has undertaken across Italy since May, from Naples to Pavia.
The morning in San Marino will be brief but packed. The Pope is scheduled to depart from the Vatican heliport at 8 a.m. and land at Torraccia Airfield after about an hour’s flight. He will then go to Piazza della Libertà, meet with the Secretaries of State at the Public Palace, and hold a private meeting with the Captains Regent in the Council Chamber of the Twelve, where he will also sign the Book of Distinguished Guests. At 10:40 a.m. he will address members of the Great and General Council, and from the central balcony of the Public Palace he will greet those gathered in the square and impart his Apostolic Blessing.
A spiritual moment is planned at the Basilica of San Marino, where Bishop Domenico Beneventi and the Rector will welcome him. There he will take part in Eucharistic Adoration and venerate the relics of Saint Marinus, the founder of the republic, in the presence of priests, consecrated persons, and representatives of diocesan life. Before leaving at 12:15 p.m., he will greet the faithful once more in the square. San Marino, founded in A.D. 301, is the world’s oldest constitutional republic and the third-smallest independent state in Europe.
In the afternoon, Pope Leo XIV will head about 14 miles northeast to Rimini on Italy’s Adriatic coast. The main event there is the 47th Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples, the annual gathering organized by the Catholic lay movement Communion and Liberation. The 2026 edition runs from August 21 to 26 under the theme “The love that moves the sun and the other stars”. Pope Leo will be the first pontiff to attend in person since Pope John Paul II in 1982.
The Rimini Meeting is one of Italy’s most important cultural and religious events, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each summer and mixing religion, culture, and politics. It has historic ties to Italy’s Christian Democratic movement and remains an influential forum for public debate. This year’s speakers are expected to include Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and Italy’s Deputy Prime Ministers Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini. Pope Leo is scheduled to give an address at 4:00 pm.
The Pope’s presence in Rimini also has a pastoral dimension for the local Church. At 6:30 p.m. local time he will celebrate Mass with Catholics of the Rimini Diocese in the city’s port. His participation is seen by Vatican observers as both a gesture of closeness to the Communion and Liberation movement and a quiet diplomatic signal, given the movement’s recent internal discussions following new statutes issued by the Vatican in November.
This visit fits into a busy August for Pope Leo XIV. Earlier in the month he celebrated Mass for the Assumption in Castel Gandolfo and led the Angelus there. The San Marino and Rimini trip marks the final stop of his summer pastoral visits outside Rome. He will return to Castel Gandolfo again at month’s end for Mass and a procession.
For San Marino, the visit is a historic moment. As a microstate of about 33,000 people nestled in the Apennines, it rarely hosts a papal visit, and local authorities have been preparing public gatherings and ceremonies in Piazza della Libertà. For the Catholic Church, the back-to-back stops highlight Pope Leo’s emphasis on small communities and large cultural forums alike — honoring the oldest republic in the morning, and then addressing one of Italy’s biggest Catholic gatherings in the afternoon as a message of faith, friendship, and public engagement.
