Sawt Falasteen - Leo XIV, 'humble servant of God', visits sanctuary in first papal outing

The Chicago-born pontiff paid a "private visit" Saturday afternoon to the Mother of Good Counsel Sanctuary in Genazzano, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) southeast of Rome, the Vatican said.

Earlier, addressing a meeting of cardinals at the Vatican just two days after being elected the 267th pope, he provided some early clues as to what his priorities and style would be.

Leo explained his new choice of name reflected a commitment to social causes while describing himself as St Peter's "unworthy Successor".

Born Robert Francis Prevost, the pope told assembled cardinals a pontiff was "a humble servant of God and of his brothers and sisters, and nothing more than this".

He praised Francis's "complete dedication to service and to sober simplicity of life", according to a transcript of the gathering published by the Vatican.

"Let us take up this precious legacy and continue on the journey, inspired by the same hope that is born of faith," he told the College of Cardinals.

The new pope was given a standing ovation as he entered the conference hall wearing a white papal robe, video released by the Vatican showed.

Among the Church priorities championed by Francis, Leo said he intended to uphold "loving care for the least and the rejected" and his "courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities".

He also mentioned "the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community" and growth in "synodality," a top priority of Francis's that sought to open the Church to welcome more voices.

Francis, an Argentine Jesuit and the first pope from the Americas, died on April 21 aged 88.

- Justice, labour -

The first leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics to come from the United States, Leo told cardinals he chose his papal name as a homage to Leo XIII, a 19th-century pontiff who defended workers' rights.

That choice, he said, was because his namesake "addressed the social question in the context of the first great Industrial Revolution".

Today, the Church's social teaching is needed "in response to another Industrial Revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," Leo added.

He later headed to Genazzano. Italian television channel TV2000 broadcast footage of him exiting a black SUV and entering the basilica, which dates from the 11th century.

The sanctuary preserves an ancient image of the Virgin Mary, which is dear to the Augustinian order and "to the memory of Leo XIII", the Vatican said.

Leo is the first pope from the Augustinian order, a religious group with a strong focus on missionary outreach and community, which experts say encourages collaboration and discussion before decision-making.

In his first homily to cardinals on Friday, Leo urged the Church to restore the faith of millions around the world.

He warned that lack of faith often went hand-in-hand with "the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society."

The Augustinian, who was made cardinal by Francis in 2023, is not a globally recognised figure although he had been on many Vatican watchers' lists of potential popes ahead of the conclave.

Over the coming days his actions and words will be closely scrutinised.

- 'Deep faith' -

On Sunday, he returns to the balcony of St Peter's Basilica to give the Regina Coeli prayer to assembled faithful in the square beneath him.

Leo plans to meet with foreign diplomats to the Vatican next week and the following Sunday, May 18, he will preside over his inauguration mass at St Peter's Square, expected to draw world leaders and thousands of pilgrims.

Cardinals have described Leo as cast in the mold of Francis, with a commitment to the poor and disadvantaged, as well a focus on those hailing from further-flung areas of the Church.

But they say his approach may be less direct than the sometimes impulsive Francis, a progressive who shook up the Church during his 12-year papacy.

In an interview with Italian daily La Stampa published Saturday, US Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a conservative archbishop of New York, called the new pope "a man of deep faith, rooted in prayer and capable of listening".

"This is what gives us hope; not a political programme or a communicative strategy but the concrete testimony of the Gospel," said Dolan.

H.Jarrar--SF-PST