Pope returns to sanctuary where he prayed after election and unveils a fresco depicting the event

GENAZZANO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV returned Monday to a sanctuary where he prayed just after his election and revealed a permanent sign of his devotion to the place: a fresco depicting him praying that now adorns an upper cornice of the basilica.

Leo unveiled the portrait before celebrating Mass with his fellow Augustinian brothers at the Sanctuary of Our Mother of Good Counsel in the medieval village of Genazzano south of Rome. He joins a handful of past popes whose visits to the sanctuary were commemorated with portraits that adorn its walls, going back to Pope Urban VIII in 1630.

Leo visited the sanctuary on May 10, 2025, just two days after his election and in his first outing as pope. The former Robert Prevost had been there many times before, since the place has special significance for the pope's Augustinian religious order.

The sanctuary is managed by Augustinian friars and has been a place of pilgrimage since the 15th century. Leo’s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, elevated it to a minor basilica and expanded the adjacent convent in the early 1900s.

Leo referred to that 2025 outing during his homily at the basilica Monday, which commemorates the birth of Mary. Leo recalled what he wrote then in the sanctuary's guest book.

The new pope wrote at the time that he felt the “need and profound desire” to come to the sanctuary after his election to pray before the Madonna of Good Counsel “who has accompanied me all my life with her maternal presence, with her wisdom and example of love for her son who is always the center of my faith.”

Leo and the Vatican are stepping up activities now that summer lull is coming to a close. The Holy See’s typically busy autumn conferences and audiences are taking shape, and Leo is gearing up for a trip to France at the end of the month and his much-awaited trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November.

Winfield reported from Rome.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Leo XIV celebrates a mass at the Basilica Sanctuary of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, central Italy, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV celebrates a mass at the Basilica Sanctuary of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, central Italy, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV arrives to celebrate a mass at the Basilica Sanctuary of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, central Italy, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV celebrates a mass at the Basilica Sanctuary of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, central Italy, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV receives a box with butterflies as he arrives at the Basilica Sanctuary of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, central Italy, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

LONDON (AP) — The British government on Monday condemned the “intimidating and thuggish behavior” of anti-immigrant demonstrators who converged on a port in southern England where migrants were brought ashore after crossing the English Channel.

Hundreds of protesters, many dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks, faced off with police in Portsmouth late Sunday in an attempt to prevent lifeboats from bringing the migrants to land. They then tried to block buses carrying the new arrivals to a processing facility for asylum seekers.

Police were investigating possible assaults of a small number of injured officers and damage to official vehicles, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said.

“Disorder of any kind will never be tolerated and those who cross the line from peaceful protest into illegality will face the full force of the law,” said Sarah Jones, policing minister.

The Portsmouth protest came a day after hundreds of masked anti-immigration protesters blocked roads leading to Britain’s busiest ferry port of Dover on Saturday, clogging traffic and disrupting travelers as well as cargo vehicles heading for France.

Both groups appeared to be led by Daniel Thomas, an ally of veteran far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson.

Successive U.K. governments have struggled to stop people — more than 40,000 last year — making the dangerous journey across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. The issue has been depicted as a crisis by politicians including Nigel Farage of the hard-right party Reform UK, and has been used as a rallying point by anti-immigration activists.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government says stepped-up law enforcement cooperation between Britain and France has helped reduce the number of people making the crossing so far this year by more than 40% compared with 2025.

Farage said he supported peaceful protest but criticized the group for disguising themselves and dressing like paramilitaries.

Thomas, founder of Patriot Platform, defended the protesters for hiding their faces behind masks and balaclavas. He said the “working-class men” were not trying to intimidate anyone but don’t want to be “labeled far right.”

The boat that landed in Portsmouth had left early Sunday from Normandy, far west of the beaches near Calais where most departures have taken place — making it a much longer and riskier journey. Officials originally said that about 140 migrants were aboard the boat, but Jones told Parliament later that it carried approximately 120 people.

Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said lifeboats, a coastguard helicopter and a plane were involved in the operation to bring the migrants to shore.

Eight boats crossed the channel on Sunday and carried 625 migrants to the U.K., the Home Office said.

Police officers form a line to block protesters near Eastney Beach, in Portsmouth, England, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026. (PA via AP)