Vatican City, Holy See — Leo XIV prayed at the tomb of Pope Francis on Saturday, just two days after being elected new head of the Catholic Church and hours after vowing to humbly follow in his predecessor's footsteps.

Vatican News published a photo of the white-robed pope kneeling before Francis's simple marble tomb at the basilica in central Rome, where the faithful are still queueing to pay their respects.

The surprise visit to Santa Maria Maggiore, a papal basilica in Rome beloved of Francis, who died on 21 April at age 88, capped a busy day for Leo.

Earlier Saturday, Leo had praised Francis's "complete dedication to service" in a meeting at the Vatican with cardinals. He told them he intended to follow in the path of his predecessor during his pontificate.

The meeting with the College of Cardinals -- some 133 of whom elected him pontiff Thursday — revealed some clues as to the priorities and style of the largely unknown Augustinian.

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

Born Robert Francis Prevost, the first US pope is now charged with leading the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

Visits Augustinian shrine

He told 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 group, after they welcomed him with a standing ovation upon his arrival.

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 the efforts of Francis to open the Church to welcome more voices.

Saturday afternoon Leo paid a "private visit" to an important shrine for the Augustinian order, the Mother of Good Counsel Sanctuary in Genazzano, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) southeast of Rome, the Vatican said.

Justice, labour

Leo told cardinals he chose his papal name as a homage to Leo XIII, a 19th-century pontiff who had defended workers' rights.

His namesake, he said, had "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.

Leo is the first Augustinian pope, a religious order 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. 

Lack of faith, he warned, 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 former missionary in Peru, who was made cardinal by Francis in 2023, is not a globally recognized figure. He had nevertheless 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, Leo returns to the balcony of St Peter's Basilica where he was first introduced to the world 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. The following Sunday, 18 May, he will preside over his inauguration mass at St Peter's Square, which 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, and 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.

(Source: Alexandria SAGE / Umberto BACCHI, AFP)