“ I wanted so much to come here ”: Pope Leo visits the Sanctuary Marian outside Rome

CNA Deutsch, May 10, 2025/13:42

Pope Leo XIV visited on Saturday and prayed in a Marian sanctuary outside Rome, greeting the community there and urging them to “be faithful to the mother”.

The Holy Father visited the mother’s sanctuary of good advice to Genazzano on Saturday afternoon. The sanctuary, located about an hour east of Rome, is led by the religious of the Order of Saint-Augustin and “houses an ancient image of the Virgin, dear to the order and memory of Leo XIII”, according to the Vatican.

The pope praised the religious to the sanctuary before praying both to the altar and the Marian image, according to the Vatican. The Holy Father also prayed to the prayer of Saint-Jean-Jean-Paul II to the mother of good advice with the Assembly.

“I wanted to come so come here in these first days of the new ministry that the Church told me, to carry out this mission as a Peter successor,” Leo told those present.

The Pope told the community that the sanctuary was “such a good gift” for them.

“As the mother never gives up her children, you must also be faithful to the mother,” he said. The Holy Father also offered a blessing to those present.

Leo Saturday also visited the basilica of Saint Mary Major, where he prayed in front of the tomb of Pope Francis, his immediate predecessor.

Francis is one of the eight popes buried in the papal basilica.