Pope Leo stopped at the Basilica of h St. Mary Major to pray at the tomb of his predecessor Pope Francis. (Photo from Skynews)
ESQUILINE HILL, Rome — In a world currently saddled with the problems of violence, poverty and hunger caused by greed and pride, Pope Leo XIV has expressed hope for the global community with prayers to God and the Blessed Mother of Christ.
Before heading to Castel Gandolfo for his customary weekly day of rest, the Pope stopped at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major to pray at the tomb of his predecessor, Pope Francis, and in front of the image of Salus Populi Romani.
The Salus Populi Romani (Protectress of the Roman people, also known as the Salvific Health of the Roman people) is a Roman Catholic title associated with the Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child Jesus holding a Gospel book on a gold ground, now heavily over painted and kept in the Borghese (Pauline) Chapel of the Papal basilica.
On the marble slab in the middle of Francis’s tomb—where a white rose is always placed in memory of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, a constant spiritual presence in the life of the Argentine pontiff—Pope Leo laid a bouquet of white roses. It was a gesture of homage to his predecessor, buried between the Sforza Chapel and the Pauline Chapel. The latter is home to the icon of Salus Populi Romani, so often visited by Pope Francis before and after each international journey or hospital stay.
According to the Holy See Press Office, Pope Leo also paused in prayer in front of the Marian image before leaving the basilica around 8:15 in the evening and continuing his journey to Castel Gandolfo.
Earlier in the day, Pope Leo had celebrated a Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica in suffrage for Pope Francis and the cardinals and bishops who had passed away over the past year.
The Holy Father offered the celebration with “great affection” for his predecessor, who, he recalled in his homily, “died after opening the Holy Door and imparting the Easter Blessing to Rome and the whole world.”
“Thanks to the Jubilee, this celebration—my first—takes on a special meaning: it carries the flavor of Christian hope,” Leo enthused in his homily.
This hope, he added later in his reflection, was one that Pope Francis and the other prelates who have died in recent months “lived, witnessed, and taught.”
Previously, just two days after his election to the See of Peter, the American pontiff visited Francis’s tomb, which is visited daily by numerous faithful and pilgrims. That time, the newly elected Pope laid flowers on the tomb and paused for a few moments in prayer.
A month later, Leo did the same again on June 22, following the procession for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, from St. John Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.