This afternoon, shortly after 16.00, Pope Leo XIV went to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano for a private visit.

The shrine, maintained by the religious of the Order of Saint Augustine, preserves an ancient image of the Virgin, dear to the Order and to the memory of Leo XIII.

After a festive welcome from several hundred people gathered in the square in front of the Shrine, the Pope entered the church, where he greeted the religious brothers and paused in prayer, first before the altar and then in front of the image of the Virgin, where, with those present, he recited John Paul II’s prayer to the Mother of Good Counsel.

At the end, after the recitation of the Hail Mary and the singing of the Salve Regina, the Pope addressed those who were in the church, greeting them and the people of Genazzano gathered outside. “I wanted so much to come here in these first days of the new ministry that the Church has entrusted to me, to carry out this mission as the Successor of Peter”. And recalling his visit after his election as Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, and his choice to “offer his life to the Church”, the Pope reiterated his “trust in the Mother of Good Counsel”, a companion of ‘light and wisdom”, with the words addressed by Mary to the servants on the day of the Wedding at Cana, as told in the Gospel of John: “Whatever He tells you, do it”.

Together with the community, the Pope then proceeded to an inner room for a private meeting.

At the end, the Pope appeared at the door of the Basilica and, greeting those present, addressed some words to them, expressing his joy at having been able to pray to the Mother of Good Counsel, “such a great gift” for the people of Genazzano, from which there derives a great responsibility: “just as the Mother never abandons her children, you must also be faithful to the Mother”.

The Pope greeted the young, and the young at heart – “We all are!” he said – and evoked the spirit of enthusiasm with which to follow Jesus, following the example of Mary.

Finally, before leaving the Shrine, he blessed those present.

On his way back to the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV stopped at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where he paused in prayer before the tomb of Pope Francis and the icon of the Virgin, Salus Populi Romani.