India, May 3 -- Pope Leo XIV on Saturday encouraged some of the wealthiest US Catholics to keep on giving to support his charitable works, in an audience that confirmed how the election of the first US-born pope has invigorated American Catholics and their donations.

The Chicago-born Leo met with members of The Papal Foundation, a major funder of papal development projects in the developing world, in the Apostolic Palace at the end of their annual pilgrimage to Rome. In his remarks, Leo thanked the foundation stewards for their generosity, which he said had allowed "countless people to experience in a concrete fashion the goodness and kindness of God in their own communities".

He noted in particular the priests and nuns from poor countr...