Pope Leo leaves Vatican to visit Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel

16 May 2025

By Contributor

By Cindy Wooden , Catholic News Service

Pope Leo First Visit out of Vatican
Pope Leo XIV prays in front of a fresco of Our Lady of Good Counsel at the shrine named after the image in Genazzano, Italy, southeast of Rome, 10 May 2025. The shrine, with a famous image of Mary, is run by the Pope’s Augustinian confreres. Photo: CNS / Vatican Media.

Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV got in the front seat of a minivan and travelled 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian Confreres.

Pope Leo XIV prays at the tomb of Pope Francis in Rome’s Basilica of St Mary Major 10 May 2025. Photo: CNS / Vatican Media.

And on his way back to the Vatican 10 May, he went to Rome’s Basilica of St Mary Major, stopping to pray at the tomb of Pope Francis and before the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani (health of the Roman people).

The Vatican press office said he arrived at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano just after 4pm local time. The shrine is famous for a small fresco of Mary holding the infant Jesus.

Pope Leo XIV greets a crowd outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, southeast of Rome, 10 May 2025. The shrine, with a famous image of Mary, is run by the pope’s Augustinian confreres. Photo: CNS / Vatican Media.

A description on a website of Catholic shrines says, “The Christ Child nestles close to his mother. Mary supports Jesus with her left arm. She bends her head toward him, and their cheeks touch tenderly.”

The ancient image is “dear to the order” of Augustinians and was beloved by Pope Leo XIII, whom the new pope is named after, the press office said.

Several hundred people cheered Pope Leo’s arrival at the shrine, and he greeted many of them before going into the shrine to greet the friars. “He stopped in prayer in front of the altar and then in front of the image of the Virgin where he and those present recited the prayer of St John Paul II to Our Lady of Good Counsel.

St John Paul had visited the shrine in April 1993.

Pope Leo XIV prays before the icon of Mary, “Salus Populi Romani,” in the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome 10 May 2025. Photo: CNS / Vatican Media.

The prayer assures Mary that the faithful turn to her with “their hopes and sorrows, their desires and needs, their many tears shed and their yearning for a better future. Turn, O Mother, your gaze upon this people, accept their generous intentions, accompany them on their journey toward a future of justice, solidarity and peace.”

Pope Leo told those gathered at the shrine, “I wanted so much to come here in these first days of the new ministry that the Church has given me” to seek Mary’s help “to carry out this mission as Successor of Peter.”

Pope Leo XIV greets people outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, southeast of Rome, 10 May 2025. The shrine, with a famous image of Mary, is run by the pope’s Augustinian confreres. Photo: CNS / Vatican Media.

The Pope spoke of his “trust in the Mother of Good Counsel,” who has been a companion of “light, wisdom.”

Before leaving the town, he told the people that the shrine and the Marian image are “a great gift” that carries with it a responsibility. “Just as our Mother never abandons her children, you must remain faithful to her.”