Pope Leo XIV will visit the mother’s sanctuary good advice to Genazzano, just outside Rome, saying that he “wanted so many things to come here in these first days of the new ministry … that the church told me”.
By Vatican News
For his first trip outside the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV chose to visit the mother’s sanctuary of good advice to Genazzano, just outside Rome.
Pope Leo visited the sanctuary, which has been managed by the Augustins since 1200, around 4 p.m. for a private visit.
The sanctuary houses an ancient image of the Virgin Mary, which comes from Shkodër (Albania) and was very loved by Pope Leo XIII, who never managed to visit it but raised it to the dignity of the minor basilica in 1903.
Other popes had visited the mother of good advice: John XXIII in 1959 and John Paul II in 1993.
Today, however, the visit came from Pope Leo XIV who, as a cardinal, celebrated mass in the sanctuary on April 25, 2024.
In his homily, Cardinal Prévost expressed his dedication to the Virgin, urging the faithful to be inspired by Mary to spread peace and reconciliation in the world.
The pope arrives at the sanctuary
A greeting and a prayer
Pope Leo arrived in a Multivan Volkswagen, sitting in front; It was greeted by an acclaiming crowd of hundreds of people gathered in the square or looking through windows and balconies.
Many shouted “Leo, Leo” and the neighboring streets have filled. Upon entering the church, where he praised the Augustinian religious, the pope stopped to pray, first before the altar and then in front of the image of the Virgin. With those present, he recited the prayer of John Paul II to the mother of the good advice.
‘All she tells you, do it’
In the end, after having said a hail Mary and sung the salvo Regina, the pope addressed those who were in the church, greeting them and the inhabitants of Genazzano gathered outside: “ I wanted so many things here in these first days of the new ministry of the Mission of the Successor of Peter that the Church entrusted to me. ”
And, recalling the visit he made after his election as a previous general of the Order of Saint-Augustin, and his choice to “offer his life to the Church”, Leo XIV reiterated his `Confidence in the mother of good advice ”, citing the words addressed by Marie to the servants of marriage in Cana:` `All that she says, do it.
The Pope then held a private meeting with the Augustinian community.
