Pope Leo XIV traveled around 150 miles south of Rome to the Italian cities of Pompei and Naples on the first anniversary of his election.<\/p>\n
POMPEI, Italy \u2014 Pope Leo XIV placed his pontificate under the protection of Mary during a visit to two cities in southern Italy on Friday \u2014 the first anniversary of his election to the papacy on May 8, 2025.<\/p>\n
Leo celebrated Mass for an estimated 20,000 people outside the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompei, whose feast day is May 8, during the day trip to Pompei and Naples.<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly one year ago,\u201d the pope said in his homily, amid thunderous applause from the assembled faithful, \u201cwhen the ministry of successor of Peter was entrusted to me, it was precisely the day of the Supplication to the Virgin, this beautiful day of the Supplication to the Virgin of the Holy Rosary of Pompei! I therefore had to come here, to place my service under the protection of the Holy Virgin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving then chosen the name Leo places me in the footsteps of Leo XIII, who, among his many merits, also developed a rich magisterium on the holy rosary. Added to all of this is the recent canonization of St. Bartolo Longo, apostle of the rosary,\u201d Leo added.<\/p>\n
Before Mass, the pope \u2014 who flew about 150 miles from Rome to Pompei by helicopter early on May 8 \u2014 visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompei. Despite forecasts of rain, thousands of people filled Bartolo Longo Square from the first light of dawn.<\/p>\n
At the shrine, the Holy Father met the \u201cTemple of Charity,\u201d an organization that welcomes and assists people coming from situations of hardship.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV meets the \u201cTemple of Charity,\u201d an organization that welcomes and assists people coming from situations of hardship, during a pastoral visit to Pompei, Italy, on May 8, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media<\/p>\n
\u201cGood morning, Pompei! Our Mother Mary \u2014 our mom \u2014 is always with us,\u201d the pope said, informally greeting the faithful who were waiting for Mass. Before the Eucharistic celebration, Leo also greeted the sick and people with disabilities inside the shrine.<\/p>\n
The pope\u2019s homily at the outdoor Mass focused on the power of the rosary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hail Mary repeated in the holy rosary is an act of love,\u201d he said. \u201cGenerations of believers have been shaped and safeguarded by this prayer \u2014 simple and popular, yet at the same time capable of mystical heights and a treasure chest of the most essential Christian theology.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also called the Hail Mary prayer \u201can invitation to joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt tells Mary, and in her all of us, that upon the ruins of our humanity, tried by sin and therefore always inclined to abuses, oppression, and war, the caress of God has come \u2014 the caress of mercy, which in Jesus takes on a human face. Mary thus becomes the mother of mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen St. John Paul II proclaimed the Year of the Rosary [2002\u20132003], he wished to place it in a special way under the gaze of the Virgin of Pompei,\u201d Leo XIV continued. \u201cTimes have not improved since then. The wars still being fought in so many regions of the world call for renewed commitment, not only economic and political, but also spiritual and religious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeace is born within the heart,\u201d he added. \u201cWe cannot resign ourselves to the images of death that the news presents to us every day. St. Bartolo Longo, reflecting on Mary\u2019s faith, called her \u2018omnipotent by grace.\u2019 Through her intercession, may an abundant outpouring of mercy come from the God of peace \u2014 touching hearts, calming resentments and fratricidal hatred, and enlightening those who bear special responsibilities of governance. No earthly power will save the world, but only the divine power of love.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the conclusion of Mass, Pope Leo prayed together with the faithful the traditional Supplication to Our Lady of Pompei.<\/p>\n
The Supplication to the Queen of the Holy Rosary of Pompei was written in 1883 by St. Bartolo Longo. It is solemnly recited twice a year, at noon on May 8 and on the first Sunday of October. The supplication was composed in response to the invitation that Pope Leo XIII addressed to Catholics in his first encyclical on the rosary, Supremi Apostolatus Officio, calling for a spiritual commitment to confront the evils of society.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV prays at the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in Naples, Italy, on Friday, May 8, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media<\/p>\n
After lunch in private, Pope Leo took a helicopter about 16 miles northwest to Naples, the capital city of the Campania region of Italy, where he met with priests and religious brothers and sisters in the Naples cathedral.<\/p>\n
During his visit to the cathedral, Leo stopped in the Chapel of the Treasure of St. Januarius, where the miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius had taken place on May 3. The pope kissed the relic and with it blessed those in the packed cathedral.<\/p>\n
After some time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the pope addressed the Catholic community: \u201cWhat I therefore ask of you is this: Listen to one another, walk together, create a symphony of charisms and ministries, and in this way find ways to move from a pastoral ministry of maintenance to a missionary pastoral ministry, capable of engaging with the concrete lives of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a city marked by inequality, youth unemployment, school dropout rates, and fragile family situations, the proclamation of the Gospel cannot be separated from a concrete and supportive presence that involves everyone \u2014 priests, religious, and laypeople alike,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV then arrived in the popemobile to Piazza del Plebiscito, the main square of Naples, where authorities estimate about 50,000 people were present.<\/p>\n
The pope\u2019s address focused on peace and justice: a peace that \u201cbegins in the human heart, passes through relationships, takes root in neighborhoods and on the outskirts, and expands to embrace the entire city and the world.\u201d A peace that needs justice \u201cto be authentic\u201d and that \u201ccan never be separated from charity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo also spoke about the \u201cNeapolitan paradox:\u201d on the one hand, the significant increase in tourism, which however struggles to correspond to \u201ceconomic dynamism capable of truly involving the entire social community.\u201d He described a city \u201cmarked by a social divide that no longer separates the center from the outskirts but is even evident within every area, with existential peripheries nested even in the heart of the historic center.\u201d Faced with these disparities, Pope Leo XIV recalled the presence of the state as \u201cmore necessary than ever, to provide security and confidence to citizens and to take space away from organized crime.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then encouraged moving forward with the projects of hope taking shape in the city: \u201cGather your strength, work together, walk united \u2014 institutions, Church, and civil society \u2014 to connect the city, protect your children from the snares of hardship and evil, and restore to Naples its vocation to be a capital of humanity and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story was first published in\u00a0multiple\u00a0parts\u00a0by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n