Thousands attend Pope Leo's first Angelus prayer

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy -- Thousands of people streamed to a small Italian hilltop village not far from Rome on Sunday, to hear Pope Leo deliver his first Angelus prayer from his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.

"I am happy to be among you... and thank you all for your warm welcome," the Pope declared, standing outside the gates of the Apostolic Palace, flanked by two Swiss Guards in full dress uniform.

Arriving on July 6, Leo is taking a two-week break at the Castel Gandolfo, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) southeast of Rome, reviving it as a summer papal residence.

His predecessor, Pope Francis, preferred to stay at the Vatican for the summer.

Undeterred by rainy weather, thousands of people crowded the streets of the village, perched on a hilltop and overlooking a lake, to get a glimpse of the new pope as he delivered for the first time the Angelus prayer, which popes usually deliver every Sunday.

The pope presided over mass in the Church of Saint Thomas of Villanova, before crossing the square to the cheers of the crowd.

"Let us not forget to pray for peace and for all those who find themselves in suffering and need because of war," he said.

© Agence France-Presse