Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced the widening gap between the haves and have-nots as he visited Monaco, a millionaires' playground that is the surprise pick for the first western European trip of his papacy.
Arriving by helicopter from Rome, the pope was greeted by Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene at Monaco's heliport.
The US-born pope, a former missionary critical of the wealthy elite, will start his trip at the Prince's Palace, the official residence of the Grimaldi dynasty.
Just after his arrival at the tiny principality on the French Riviera, Leo condemned what he termed the widening "chasms between the poor and the rich."
In an address in French from the balcony of the Prince's Palace, the American pope denounced "unjust configurations of power, structures of sin that dig chasms between poor and rich, between the privileged and the rejected, between friends and enemy."
He added wealth should serve "law and justice, especially at a historical moment when displays of force and the logic of omnipotence wound the world and jeopardise peace," in a clear reference to the growing number of conflicts across the globe.
Monaco is one of the few places in Europe where Catholicism remains the state religion, and it has long-standing diplomatic ties with the Holy See.
Though only around eight percent of citizens identify as practicing Catholics, church pews are one of the few places where billionaires, cleaning ladies and construction workers mingle.
In December last year, the pope visited Turkey, and according to the official Vatican News, the he will visit the African continent in April, where he will go to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
(With newswires)
