Since its establishment, four Popes have honored the Italian Embassy to the Holy See with their visit: Pius XII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
The historic visit of Pope Pius XII on June 2nd 1951, on the day of the Italian national day, marked the beginning of Papal visits to Palazzo Borromeo. Having accepted the invitation of Ambassador Antonio Meli Lupi of Soragna, the Pope visited the Embassy of Italy after consecrating the nearby Basilica of Sant’Eugenio.
Paul VI visited the Embassy on 2nd October 1964, on the anniversary of the birth of Saint Charles Borromeo and on the occasion of the consecration of the chapel of the Embassy to the Saint. The Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giuseppe Saragat, attended the ceremony.
On 2nd March 1986 John Paul II was received at Palazzo Borromeo by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Giulio Andreotti. On the occasion, the Pope gave an icon reproducing the Black Madonna of Czestochowa as a present to the Embassy.
On 13th December 2008, in the year of the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Lateran Treaties, His Holiness Benedict XVI visited the Embassy. The Pope was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini, the Undersecretary Gianni Letta, the Secretary General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Giampiero Massolo and Ambassador Antonio Zanardi Landi.