Illustrious Captains Regent,

I am pleased to extend my cordial welcome to you on this occasion when the Most High Magistrature of the Titanus Republic wishes to confirm the secular bonds that exist between those you represent and the Successor of Peter. As I thank you for the kind words you have expressed to me on behalf of your fellow citizens, I ask you to pass on my heartfelt sentiments of closeness to a venerable people who have made freedom, honesty and industriousness not only a programme of life, but the foundation itself of their civilian existence.

Marinus the monk, your Founder, is in a certain sense the precursor of the idea of a "Europe of the peoples". He handed down to you values and institutions which still continue to show their actuality and vitality today, even after 1,700 years. These are expressed in your Republic's motto: libertas. The ancient Republic, which you worthily represent here today, finds its specific identity grounded in those Christian roots that have made Europe's history so great. I trust also that for the future of your Republic, you will continue in planning your initiatives to be inspired by these legitimate ethical criteria which have become an example of the proper management of the common good.

As I renew the expression of my affection, already shown to your People from the beginning of my Pontificate when in August 1982 I went to Mount Titanus, I hope that the Serene Republic of San Marino continues to give witness to its own more than 1,000-year-old patrimony of values in the assembly of Nations. It is with these thoughts that I impart to you, your loved ones and all your citizens my affectionate Apostolic Blessing.

*L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly Edition in English n.13 p.2.

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