Pope Leo calls for courage in Rimini visit after stop in tiny San Marino

Pope Leo XIV visited the tiny republic of San Marino Saturday and later the Italian seaside resort of Rimini, where he exhorted attendees of an influential cultural and political event to be "courageous pioneers" in fighting inequality and poverty. 

An open-air mass at the port of Rimini under the setting sun and attended by 40,000 people spilling onto the beach wrapped up the pope's one-day trip -- the last in a series of brief pastoral visits close to home that Leo has made this summer.

The last papal visit to Rimini's annual "Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples" was by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

This time, Leo took the stage of a vast auditorium, encouraging leaders to expose "unjust structures of power that lie at the root of poverty, inequality, war and environmental disasters".

"Let us disarm technological development whenever it becomes invasive and destructive," said the pope, once again warning of the dangers of AI, as he called for "courageous pioneers" to lead the way. 

"Let there not be only those who fan the flames of weariness and despair; let there also be those who rekindle dreams and visions!"

Leo -- who rules over the world's smallest country, Vatican City -- spent Saturday morning in San Marino, a 60-square-kilometre (24-square-mile) enclave of 33,000 people in the Apennine Mountains. The visit follows one made in March to another European statelet, the principality of Monaco.

He climbed on foot a short distance to the mountain-top Piazza della Liberta, where he was greeted by local authorities and a military band.

From there, Leo extolled "the distinctive value of a small State, 'on a human scale'," where he said politics could better address "the needs of citizens and, therefore, a more effective democracy".

Following a prayer service in the local basilica, the head of the Catholic Church travelled by helicopter to the popular seaside city of Rimini on the Adriatic coast for the annual gathering of Communion and Liberation, a Christian group.

The so-called "Rimini Meeting" is a prominent event mixing religion, culture and politics that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every summer.

Historically, the event was closely linked with the Christian Democratic movement, the now-defunct centrist Catholic political party that dominated Italian politics for nearly 50 years after World War II.

Other speakers this year include Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and both of Italy's deputy prime ministers, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini.

In Rimini, the pope paid a brief visit to an exhibition dedicated to Saint Augustine, the fifth-century Christian theologian who laid the foundations for the 13th-century Augustinian order to which Leo belongs.

The pontiff also met with disabled and ailing members of the faith at Rimini cathedral before the mass at the port, where people spilled onto the beach to hear the pontiff's homily.

"I would like to encourage you to continue in your efforts to ensure that this area is welcoming not only for rest and leisure, but also for the spirit," Leo told residents of the popular resort, before priests administered Holy Communion to the faithful on the beach.

A series of short visits in Italy this summer took Leo to the cities of Pavia and Assisi and the island of Lampedusa.