Pope Leo XIV unveils new fresco at Genazzano sanctuary after 2025 pilgrimage

Pope Leo XIV made a return trip to the Sanctuary of Our Mother of Good Counsel in the historic village of Genazzano, the place where he prayed shortly after his election in May 2025. At the ceremony he unveiled a fresco on the basilica’s upper cornice that depicts him in prayer, adding to a tradition of papal portraits that began with Pope Urban VIII in 1630. The sanctuary, administered by Augustinian friars and elevated to a minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII in the early 1900s, has long served as a pilgrimage site.

In his homily, Leo recalled his entry in the guest book, expressing a lifelong devotion to the Madonna of Good Counsel. The unveiling coincided with a Mass celebrated by his Augustinian brothers on the feast of Mary’s birth. The Holy See is now gearing up for autumn events, including a planned visit to France and a South-American tour in November.