On the anniversary of his election, Pope Leo XIV traveled to Pompeii, Italy, to mark the May 8 feast of Our Lady of Pompeii with prayers focused on peace and reconciliation. Friday’s visit also coincided with the timing of last year’s start of his pontificate, as he marked his first year in the role of bishop of Rome.
Before Mass, Leo addressed faithful inside the sanctuary, saying, “What a beautiful day, how many blessings the Lord wanted to give to all of us,” and adding that he felt “the first blessed to be able to come here to the sanctuary of the Madonna on the day of her feast and on this anniversary.” He also framed the day as part of a broader effort to get to know the Italian church that he leads symbolically as pope.
The pope opened his Pompeii program by meeting sick and disabled people cared for by a charity center affiliated with the sanctuary. The sanctuary complex is associated with St. Bartolo Longo, a figure remembered in Italy for charitable work for orphans, prisoners and other marginalized people.
During his homily at the sanctuary, Leo entrusted his pontificate to the Virgin Mary and prayed for peace, telling the congregation, “We cannot resign ourselves to the images of death that the news presents to us every day.” He continued, “May the God of peace pour out an overflowing abundance of mercy, touching hearts, soothing grudges and fratricidal hatred, and enlightening those who bear special responsibilities of governance.”
Friday also marked the May 8 anniversary of Leo’s election as pope, when the former Robert Prevost became history’s first U.S.-born pontiff. Last year, on the night of his election, he had referenced the Pompeii feast day during events at St. Peter’s Basilica and the piazza below, leading a prayer for his pontificate.
In Pompeii, Leo tied the sanctuary’s religious significance to its historical setting near the archaeological remains of a city buried after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. The pope noted that May 8, 1876 marked the laying of the cornerstone for a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Pompeii, underscoring the feast’s longstanding local roots.
Leo’s remarks also recalled Longo’s work in the Pompeii valley, saying Longo “found a land plagued by great poverty, inhabited by a few very poor farmers, and ravaged by malaria and bandits.” The pope said Longo “was able to see, however, the face of Christ in everyone: in the great and the small, and especially in the orphans and the children of prisoners,” describing that the charity he started made “the beating of God’s heart felt through his tenderness.”
Outside, Leo was met by throngs of cheering Italians who appeared to be aware of his recent exchange with U.S. President Donald Trump over the Iran war. Rita Borriello, from Torre del Greco, said the pope “doesn’t let anyone intimidate him,” and described how she saw Trump criticizing him while Leo “simply answered, ‘I preach the Gospel’. I see him as a very humble pope, very close to us, a pope who entered in our hearts.”
The Pompeii visit launched a schedule of day trips Leo plans to make over the coming weeks around the Italian peninsula as he continues getting to know the church in the country where the trip took place. Winfield reported from Rome.