The China Mail - Leo marks one-year anniversary with visit to southern Italy

On the first anniversary of his May 8, 2025 election, the first American pontiff is travelling to Pompeii and Naples, starting the visit at a shrine founded by a former Satanic priest.

A cry of "the pope has arrived!" came up from the crowd as a yellow helicopter flew over the vast square in Pompeii where thousands of pilgrims had assembled.

One of them was Salvatore Sica, 68, who had come from nearby Naples for a view of Leo.

"I'm curious to see the new pope... He's not like Francis, who was one of the family like a brother or a father," Sica said.

"He preaches peace but I see him as distant from the people. But he is a good pope."

Leo's measured and discreet style contrasts with the more spontaneous Francis, the late Argentine pope who died on April 21 last year.

The 70-year-old Leo's visit comes a day after he received US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for an audience aimed at easing tensions after scathing criticism of the pope's anti-war views from US President Donald Trump.

Among the faithful in Pompeii, Mariella Annunziata, 52, said the pope had responded "in an elegant way" to Trump's comments.

"He did not give in to provocation," she said.

Annunziata said the pope "seems to have a very international vision".

Fra Gianluca, a 24-year-old Franciscan friar, said the pope had shown "the beautiful face of someone who receives an offence but knows that what he is doing is for the good of the Church".

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was also criticised by Trump after defending the pope, paid tribute to the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

"In a complex and highly uncertain time, his voice is a point of reference on a global level -- for Christians but not only," she wrote on X to mark the anniversary.

- Tour of Italy -

The pope arrived shortly before 0700 GMT at the sanctuary of the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii, near the ruins of the ancient Roman city destroyed by a volcanic eruption.

"Thank you for coming out in such large numbers," the pope told a group of sick and disabled people at the start of his visit.

The sanctuary has a strong connection with Leo, who cited the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii in his first address from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

It holds the body of Bartolo Longo, a 19th-century saint who rediscovered his Catholic faith after being a Satanic priest.

The shrine also has a strong connection with Leo XIII -- the 19th century pope who inspired the current pontiff with his defence of workers -- who made the shrine a pontifical basilica in 1901.

Its founder, Longo, was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and canonised -- made a saint -- by Leo in October 2025.

The one-day trip marks the first of several short pastoral visits planned this summer in Italy, and comes a fortnight after a tour of four African nations.

Later on Friday, the pope will head to Naples, the teeming southern Italian metropolis where he will venerate the relics of San Gennaro, the city's patron saint, and greet the crowds in the Piazza del Plebiscito.

L.Kwan--ThChM