Pope Leo praises San Marino as model of freedom and common good

SAN MARINO (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Saturday hailed the tiny Republic of San Marino as a model of political freedom and civic responsibility, praising its centuries-old republican traditions while warning against political and economic systems that place power above the human person.

Addressing local authorities during a one-day visit to the world’s oldest surviving republic, Leo reflected on the legacy of Saints Marino and Leone, whom he credited with helping create a society rooted in freedom, mutual respect and community.

The pope said the two saints translated the Christian message into “a new community and political model, strongly characterized by the Christian principles of freedom, mutual respect and communion,” a legacy that he said continues to shape the republic today.

San Marino, a nation of about 35,000 people completely surrounded by the Italian state, traces its origins to the fourth century. It is governed by a 60-member parliament that elects two captains regent every six months to serve jointly as heads of state, a power-sharing arrangement designed to prevent the concentration of authority.

Using the micro state as an example, Leo argued that small political communities can offer lessons in public service and social cohesion at a time of growing division and distrust.

Leo is the third pope to visit San Marino, after St. John Paul II visited in 1982 and Pope Benedict XVI came in 2011.

The American pontiff praised a society “built on respect for one’s own freedom and that of others and above all on respect for the sacred Will of God.”

He warned that modern societies face increasing threats from violence, social fragmentation and ideologies that put self-interest ahead of the common good.

“We live in a world wounded by many conflicts,” the pope said, citing growing violence, closures and fear of others. He urged Christians to respond through forgiveness, solidarity and concern for the vulnerable.

Leo also described San Marino as a “laboratory of good politics” and called for public life to uphold the dignity of every human person “from conception to natural death” — language commonly used by Vatican officials and Catholic leaders when referring to church opposition to abortion and euthanasia.

In 2021, San Marino voters approved a referendum legalizing abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, overturning a decades-old ban. The referendum represented a significant change in law and public policy in a country with deep Catholic roots.

While Leo did not directly address the referendum, he repeatedly stressed the need for political, social and economic systems to place human dignity at their center. He warned against models that present themselves as liberating but ultimately fail to serve the human person and the common good.

The pope also praised small communities in the San Marino-Montefeltro region that have responded to depopulation and the loss of services through mutual support and cooperation.

Zampano reported from Rome.

Faithful wait for Pope Leo XIV inside the Basilica during his visit to San Marino, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV, center, flanked by Captains Regent Alice Mina, left, and Vladimiro Selva, waves to faithful from the balcony of Palazzo Pubblico (City Hall) during his visit to San Marino, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Faithful wait for Pope Leo XIV outside the Basilica during his visit to San Marino, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV walks up the steps to enter the Basilica during his visit to San Marino, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV, center, flanked by Captains Regent Alice Mina, left, and Vladimiro Selva, waves to faithful from the balcony of Palazzo Pubblico (City Hall) during his visit to San Marino, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drone and missile strikes killed at least two people overnight in Ukraine, officials said Saturday, while a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Krasnodar region killed two others, a day after a strike on a Ukrainian shopping center killed 16 people.

In the latest attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that one person was killed and another wounded when ballistic missiles hit railway infrastructure in the capital, Kyiv.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its forces had hit a locomotive depot.

Moscow’s forces have recently intensified their ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, exploiting Ukraine’s chronic shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors, the sole weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down the missiles.

Russian drone strikes also killed one person overnight in a village in the Zaporizhzhia region, local officials said Saturday. Zelenskyy said that three people were wounded in an attack on a minibus in the regional capital, also called Zaporizhzhia.

In Russia's southern Krasnodar region, authorities said that two children were killed and two adults were wounded in a Ukrainian drone strike.

The latest attacks came a day after Russian drones struck a shopping center in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine on Friday.

Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said in the early hours of Saturday that the death toll had risen to 16 and nine people remain missing after the attack, which wounded another 130.

Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of Zelenskyy, who described the attack as a double-tap strike, in which an initial wave of drones hit the area followed by a second wave as rescue workers responded. The Ukrainian leader said the fire, which spread across 9,000 square meters (around 97,000 square feet), had been extinguished and rescue efforts were underway.

Kryvyi Rih has been hit multiple times during the 4½-year all-out war between Russia and Ukraine, with one of the deadliest occurring in April 2025, when 20 people were killed, including nine children.

Large-scale Russian strikes have become a regular occurrence this summer, with Friday’s attacks landing just 24 hours after Russia pounded Kyiv with scores of missiles and drones in a nighttime assault that killed 16 people.

The capital has been hit hard repeatedly in recent weeks: 17 people were killed in a strike on Kyiv and its surrounding region just over two weeks ago, and nine died in another attack on the city two days before that. The United Nations said last week that Kyiv was one of the hardest-hit cities in July, with at least 54 civilians killed and 202 wounded.

At the same time, Ukraine has shifted the war onto Russian soil through long-range drone strikes on oil facilities that have caused fuel shortages across Russia. It also has unsettled the Russian public by striking warehouses of Wildberries, the country’s biggest online retailer.

The Russian online news outlet Astra reported Saturday that a Ukrainian drone set ablaze an oil refinery in the Samara region. Local officials said that damage was recorded at an unidentified “industrial facility” and a logistics center for Ozon, a competitor to Wildberries.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Valentyna Svertoka, 86, leans against a doorframe as she cleans her apartment in a partially damaged residential building the day after a Russian missile and drone attack in Kyiv, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A local resident walks past destroyed vehicles and scattered debris the day after a Russian missile and drone attack in Kyiv, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters work on a fire at a shopping mall following a Russian drone attack in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

People embrace each other near a burning shopping mall following a Russian drone attack in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Military administration, firefighters work on a fire at a shopping mall following a Russian drone attack in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (Ukrainian Military administration via AP)