Welcoming You to our Land, whose history and traditions are rooted in the figure of a Founding Saint, Saint Marinus, who shaped his people on values anchored in Christianity, educating them in the meaning of the ancient motto “Relinquo vos liberos ab utroque homine”, is a source of great joy, given the extraordinary nature of an event of the highest spiritual, civil and institutional value, one that will leave an indelible mark on the memory of our community. Today a hope takes shape that was first expressed last January, when our predecessors, during the private Audience You graciously granted them, had the great honour of inviting You to visit the oldest Republic in the world; an invitation that, a few months later, met with Your benevolent acceptance, paving the way for this solemn moment and allowing us to celebrate together the hundredth anniversary of our official relations.
A century of continuous dialogue, during which our Institutions have together experienced some of the most significant pages of contemporary history, maintaining a steadfast relationship built on mutual respect and a shared will to embrace universal ideals, always placing human dignity, peace, solidarity and freedom above all else. We are honoured and proud to enjoy with the Holy See — with which we share the status of an enclave within the Italian Peninsula and the distinction of being among the smallest sovereign territorial entities in the world — excellent and exclusive bilateral relations, progressively strengthened over this century through continuous dialogue, nurtured by exchanges of visits, fruitful diplomatic activity and the adoption of significant agreements that have governed matters of particular importance for the life of our community. Still vivid in everyone’s memory is the historic visit to San Marino of Saint John Paul II, on 29 August 1982: a memorable day that forever marked the history of our Republic, when for the first time a Pontiff crossed the borders of the Titano.
With the same emotion, we recall the Visit of Pope Benedict XVI, on 19 June 2011; two days that shaped the path of our Country, combining spiritual value and intensity with a social and institutional dimension. Today, Your Holiness, Your presence rests upon our ancient history like a sign of light, renewing the deep bonds that, over time, have united the Holy See and our Republic. This is a meeting we will treasure in our hearts, one that allows us to open together a new chapter in this same long history, looking to the future with the confidence of those who know that, even amid the most difficult challenges, friendship, faith and dialogue can continue to show the way. We live in a time that poses profound and unavoidable questions to the conscience of the international Community. A time in which, while the world longs for peace, too many lands continue to suffer the pain of war, too many people are forced to leave their homes, and too many lives are marked by hunger, fear and injustice. The conflicts still bloodying various regions of the world, the humanitarian crises, the tensions running through the international balance of power, forced migration and the inequalities that continue to divide humanity remind us, forcefully, that no progress can be considered complete unless it safeguards the dignity of every person. Every State must therefore feel called to help the weakest, to do its part and to show that “nobility of spirit” which elevates Institutions and strengthens the moral integrity of its citizens.
Since the very beginning of the painful and ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict, San Marino has reached out to hundreds of refugees forced to flee Ukraine, offering them moral support, hospitality and services, and today it is committed to facilitating the arrival in the Republic of Palestinian families seeking refuge, assistance and the enjoyment of fundamental rights. Our long tradition of welcome, which found its highest expression in the middle of the last century through the hospitality offered to more than 100,000 refugees fleeing the violence of the Second World War, has taught us that humanitarian aid is not merely a necessary moral obligation, but a matter of life and death. Every hour without food, water, medicine and shelter causes profound suffering and is tantamount to a death sentence. It is a humiliation that is hard to bear and morally unacceptable and unjustifiable. For this reason, we applaud and firmly support the action of the Institutions and People of San Marino in drawing near to those in need, in leaving no one behind, and in fraternally assisting those in difficulty; just as we pay tribute to the work of all humanitarian actors who are giving of themselves to bring life amid this sea of human devastation.
The rapid development of technology, which opens extraordinary horizons and offers humanity new possibilities, also confers upon us a great responsibility: to make progress a tool at the service of humankind, and not a new source of division. Faced with these challenges, Governments and Institutions are called to rediscover the courage of responsibility and the strength of shared choices. Because too often we see force prevail over law, confrontation over dialogue, particular interest over the common good. And yet, it is precisely in the most difficult moments that history asks us to choose what kind of world we wish to hand down to future generations. In Your first Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, Your Holiness invites humanity not to lose sight of the primacy of the human person in this era of great digital transformation. “The risk is not only that certain technologies might be misused,” reads a passage from Your letter, “but that the technocratic paradigm in which we are immersed might make an anti-human vision seem right and normal — one in which the fullness of life would consist in having more, in reducing fragility, eliminating the unforeseen, and controlling everything.” You remind us that authentic progress cannot be measured solely by the capacity to innovate or by the pace of scientific development, but by the ability to preserve what makes a human being truly human: inviolable dignity, freedom of conscience, responsibility, solidarity and the pursuit of the common good.
This is a message, Your Holiness, that we feel to be deeply close to our own institutional experience. San Marino is a small Republic, but it carries on its shoulders the weight and the richness of more than seventeen centuries of history; a history born of the simplicity of one man and grown around an idea of freedom that time has not erased. A freedom we have never understood as a privilege, nor as self-assertion, but as a responsibility towards others, towards our community, towards the generations that came before us and, above all, towards those yet to come. Perhaps this is the most precious lesson our heritage of identity offers us: that freedom acquires its highest meaning when it becomes respect, welcome and care for others; when it builds bridges instead of raising walls; when it does not divide, but recognises in the other a part of the same, unique and magnificent humanity. A truly modern society must also not be separated from the capacity to educate in civic responsibility, to value the family, to support young people, to protect people with disabilities and the elderly, and to place the dignity of the individual at the centre of every public choice. We are equally aware that the authority and reliability of a State do not depend on the extent of its territory, but on its fidelity to the principles that inspire its actions. It is within this shared horizon that San Marino and the Holy See maintain a constant dialogue on the main issues of the multilateral agenda, finding significant common ground on matters of peace and international security, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the promotion of the rule of law and the strengthening of multilateralism. In international fora, and particularly within the United Nations, this shared understanding translates into joint support for the peaceful resolution of disputes, respect for international law and the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter, as well as the protection of civilian populations in conflicts. Within this framework lies also our shared commitment to the universal abolition of the death penalty, a matter of particular significance for the Republic of San Marino, which has made abolitionism a choice deeply rooted in its own legal tradition, and one it continues to support with conviction on the international stage. Your Holiness, this solemn Audience is a gift that all those present in this Hall will carry in their personal memory; and shortly, when You appear on our Piazza della Libertà, something will happen that will go beyond this day itself. From the ancient stone of this Palace, Your gaze will meet that of the people of San Marino and, through this small land suspended atop Monte Titano, will reach the whole world. For a moment, the Piazza will become a single voice, a single embrace, a place where past and future, faith and freedom, San Marino and all of humanity can feel united. And Your words, Your Holiness, entrusted to the wind and to memory, will continue to travel far beyond these walls, carrying with them a message of peace, hope and fraternity. Our geographical dimension is small, but the horizon of the values in which we believe is universal. We will continue to affirm that freedom finds its highest meaning when it is joined with responsibility; that peace is born of dialogue and gives strength to our democracy; that progress is authentic only when it places the human person at its centre; that the development of a society is measured, above all, by its ability to leave no one behind. This is the legacy we wish to hand down to future generations and to continue sharing with the Holy See and with the international Community. Your Holiness, please accept our heartfelt wishes for the continuation of Your Pontificate; may Your luminous path nourish in all peoples confidence in the future and rekindle hope, especially where it seems to have been extinguished. The Republic of San Marino will always stand beside the Holy See in every effort aimed at promoting peace processes, supporting dialogue between parties, and building conditions of justice and lasting coexistence. In this spirit, on behalf of the People of San Marino, of the Institutions and of ourselves personally, in renewing to You our sincere and profound gratitude for Your most welcome Visit among us, we wish to convey to You our deepest deference and highest consideration. Welcome, Your Holiness, to the Republic of San Marino, which wishes You every good!
The Captains Regent, Alice Mina and Vladimiro Selva
