Vatican City - Grand Duke Guillaume V of Luxembourg and Grand Duchess Stéphanie were received in audience this morning by Pope Leo XIV, together with their two children, Princes Charles and François. The meeting was a courtesy visit. Their Royal Highnesses also met Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin in the Treaties Room on the First Loggia of the Secretariat of State. Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was also present. The Vatican visit marks the fourth courtesy tripof the new Grand Duke, who had previously paid similar visits to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a constitutional monarchy and the only state in the world ruled by a Grand Duke. Its political history is closely intertwined with that of Central and Western Europe. The symbolic beginning is traditionally dated to 963, when Count Siegfried exchanged with the Abbey of St Maximin in Trier the rocky promontory of the Bock, where he built a castle around which a fortified settlement developed. In 1354 the county was elevated to a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire. After the extinction of the comital dynasty in 1443, the territory passed first to the Burgundian State and then to the Spanish Habsburgs, with a period of French annexation in 1684 under Louis XIV.
The Congress of Vienna in 1815 re-established the State of Luxembourg, though under the control of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Independence came in 1839, accompanied by territorial losses in favour of Belgium. In 1890, with the accession of the House of Nassau-Weilburg, Luxembourg and the Netherlands came to have separate sovereigns. In the twentieth century, the Nazi occupation of May 1940 violated the Grand Duchy’s neutrality; the country was liberated by the Allies in September 1944 and subsequently experienced renewed occupation during the Ardennes counteroffensive. In the post-war period Luxembourg joined Benelux (1944) and took part in European integration: in 1952 the city of Luxembourg became the seat of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and in 1957 the country was a founding member of the European Economic Community (EEC).
The Catholic Church in Luxembourg
Within this institutional framework, the Catholic Church has historically represented a significant social and identityreference point. Available estimates indicate a population with a Catholic majority, including the Grand Ducal family. A distinctive feature of local religious life is Marian devotion expressed in the celebration of the “Octave” (Muttergottesoktav), regarded as one of the country’s principal annual observances. It takes place from the third to the fifth Sunday after Easter and culminates in the Octave procession. The celebration is linked to the veneration of Our Lady of Luxembourg, invoked as Maria Mutter Jesu, Consolatrix Afflictorum, and recognised as patroness of the city and the nation. In a country that serves as a bridge between cultures and languages - Luxembourgish, French and German are recognised as official languages—this religious tradition continues to function as a factor of communal cohesion and collective memory.
Solid relations and a shared path
The Vatican visit fits within a framework of well-established institutional relations between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Holy See, relations that retain clear symbolic and diplomatic significance. In a country that has progressively strengthened its international profile, including through European integration and the permanent presence of European Union institutions in the capital, such courtesy visits confirm institutional continuity and sustained attention to dialogue with the centre of Catholicism, in a nation where the religious dimension remains an integral part of national history and public tradition. The Holy See’s communiqué sheds light on the substantive content of the meeting: during the cordial talks at the Secretariat of State, the quality of good bilateral relations and of Church–State relations was reaffirmed, alongside discussion of matters of common interest such as social cohesion, the education of young people, and the safeguarding of the dignity of life and of the human person. The exchange then extended to key issues on the international agenda, with particular attention to the European context, confirming that the visit was not merely formal but situated within a broader dialogue on the political, social and cultural challengesfacing Europe today.
Marco Felipe Perfetti
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