Pope Leo XIV Marks First Anniversary With Pilgrimage to Pompeii and Naples

Pope Leo XIV marked the first anniversary of his election on Friday by traveling to the Marian shrine at Pompeii and the city of Naples in southern Italy, placing the second year of his pontificate under the protection of the Virgin Mary and reiterating an appeal for peace that has defined his first 12 months as pope. The American-born pontiff, the former Cardinal Robert F. Prevost of Chicago, was elected on May 8, 2025, becoming the first U.S. citizen to lead the Roman Catholic Church in its 2,000-year history.

Speaking from the steps of the Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary in Pompeii, Leo told a crowd estimated by the Vatican press office at more than 50,000 pilgrims that 'we cannot resign ourselves to death — neither the death of war, nor the death of indifference.' He prayed before the venerated 16th-century image of Our Lady of the Rosary and led the Supplica, a recitation traditionally offered twice a year at the shrine. From Pompeii he traveled by motorcade to the cathedral of Naples, where he venerated the relic of San Gennaro and met privately with families of migrants who have settled in the region after Mediterranean crossings.

Vatican News reported that the word 'peace' has appeared more than 400 times in the public addresses Leo has delivered during his first year, a count that reflects the dominant theme of a pontificate that began as wars in Ukraine, Gaza and the Middle East intensified. He has called for an end to fighting in 14 separate Sunday Angelus addresses since his election and has repeatedly named the U.S.-Iran conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war in his weekly remarks. President Trump's announcement on Thursday of a three-day Russia-Ukraine ceasefire was acknowledged from the Vatican press office on Friday morning as 'a step the Holy Father has long prayed for.'

Leo's first year has otherwise been marked by an emphasis on continuity with his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, paired with a more reserved governing style. He has retained Francis's emphasis on the poor, on synodality and on environmental stewardship, but has reintroduced certain liturgical formalities — a return to red papal mozzettas at certain audiences, the regular use of the cathedra in the Apostolic Palace — that some commentators see as gestures toward more traditionalist Catholics. He has appointed nine new bishops in the United States and made his first foreign trip in February to Lebanon, where he met with leaders of every major Christian denomination and the country's caretaker prime minister.

Naples Archbishop Domenico Battaglia, who hosted the pope at the cathedral, called the visit 'a homecoming for a pontiff whose Augustinian formation in Peru and pastoral years in the Global South have made him a pope of the peripheries.' Pilgrims interviewed in Pompeii cited Leo's accessibility and his willingness to address sensitive social questions, including artificial intelligence ethics and the global migration crisis. The pope is scheduled to return to Rome on Saturday in time for his weekly Sunday Angelus address from St. Peter's Square, where Vatican observers expect him to formally outline priorities for the coming year.