As soon as the news of the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as Successor of Peter was received, His Royal Highness Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont and Prince of Venice, released the following statement:
“It is with deep emotion that I share the joy of the House of Savoy in receiving the news of the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as Successor of Peter. The bonds that unite the House of Savoy with the Catholic Church are indissoluble and rooted in a millennial history. We now have a new Pontiff, to whom we immediately offer our unconditional devotion. Together with all the members of my House and of the Dynastic Orders of the House of Savoy, we accompany the Pope in prayer, with the firm intention to continue our charitable mission, never forgetting the least and those existential peripheries that Pope Francis constantly indicated as the horizon in which to act—especially in the context of this Jubilee Year.”
His Royal Highness Prince Emanuele Filiberto had participated, on 26 April, in the Funeral Mass for Pope Francis, at which time he expressed the closeness of the House of Savoy and reaffirmed the deep bonds between the Savoyard Dynasty and the Holy See. Since its origins around the year 1000, the millennial history of the House of Savoy— entrusted to the maternal protection of Mary in Her Annunciation—has been deeply intertwined with that of the Church. The Dynasty includes figures of profound spirituality, some of whom have been elevated to the honors of the altars; most recently, by Pope Francis himself, Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies.
Geneva, 8 May 2025