Pope Leo XIV marks his first anniversary in Pompeii, urges peace, and asks God to calm fratricidal hatred and guide world leaders.
Newsroom (08/05/2026 Gaudium Press ) Pope Leo XIV marked the first anniversary of his pontificate on Friday, May 8, with a visit to Pompeii and Naples, using the occasion to call for peace and urge an end to what he described as “fratricidal hatred” across the world.
Celebrating Mass in the square before the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, the pope said he had a personal reason to come: he was elected on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii and wanted to place his service under Mary’s protection.
A papal anniversary in Pompeii
Leo said his choice of the name Leo placed him in the line of Leo XIII, who is associated with a major magisterium on the Holy Rosary. He also recalled the legacy of St. Bartolo Longo and Countess Marianna Farnararo De Fusco, whose efforts laid the foundations for the shrine on land shaped by the ancient eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The pope linked the shrine’s history to the wider work of evangelization, citing St. John Paul II’s 2003 appeal from the same place that “it is necessary to proclaim Christ to a society that is distancing itself from Christian values and is even losing the memory of them.” In his homily, Leo framed the visit as both a spiritual return and a public witness on the anniversary of his election.
Rosary, mercy, and peace
Reflecting on the Annunciation, Leo described the Hail Mary as an invitation to joy because it announces that God’s mercy has entered a world marked by sin, abuse, oppression, and war. He said Mary’s “Here I am” opened the way not only for the birth of Jesus but also for the birth of the Church.
The pope emphasized that the Rosary has a Marian form but a Christological and Eucharistic heart, and he called it a prayer capable of carrying believers to the center of Christian theology. He said repeated prayer draws hearts back to Jesus and to the Eucharist, which he described as the “source and summit of all Christian life.”
Leo also presented the Rosary as a prayer with social consequences. He said it directs attention to the family and to peace, both of which he portrayed as under pressure in the present moment.
Wars and world leaders
Turning to global conflict, Leo said the many wars still being fought demand a renewed response that is political, economic, spiritual, and religious. “Peace is born within the heart,” he said, warning that the world cannot become numb to the daily images of death in the news.
The pope concluded by asking the faithful to pray the Rosary for peace, so that God’s mercy may touch hearts, calm resentment and fratricidal hatred, and enlighten those with special responsibilities in government. He cast prayer not as an escape from politics but as a force meant to shape conscience, leadership, and public life.
Faith and public life
Leo’s remarks linked devotion, history, and public responsibility into a single message. By returning to Pompeii on the anniversary of his election, he placed the beginning of his pontificate under a Marian sign while also making a direct appeal for peace in a fractured world.
He portrayed the shrine as a place where prayer, charity, and memory converge, and where the lessons of the Rosary extend beyond private devotion. In his telling, the answer to global violence is not earthly power alone, but the “divine power of love” revealed in Christ
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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