The first U.S. pope is a citizen of Peru, and the first U.S. bishop he appointed is a refugee from Vietnam. And next week, that bishop is urging his fellow priests to stand in solidarity with migrants by showing up…
Pope Leo criticizes political nationalism and prays for reconciliation and dialogue
Pope Leo XIV criticized the surge of nationalist political movements in the world as he prayed Sunday for reconciliation and dialogue — a message in line with his pledges to make the Catholic Church a symbol of peace.
What a sunny van Gogh painting of ‘The Sower’ tells us about Pope Leo’s message of hope
In his first general audience in Rome, Pope Leo XIV referred to Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Sower at Sunset” and called it a symbol of hope. A brilliant setting sun illuminates a field as a farmer walks toward the right, sowing seeds.
Pope has phone call with Putin same day Trump does
As tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to escalate despite international efforts to broker a ceasefire, Pope Leo XIV Wednesday afternoon had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pope Leo XIV Returns to Tradition
When the monks of Canterbury Cathedral prepared Thomas Becket’s body for burial in the year 1170, they discovered a hairshirt hidden under his vestments. The British faithful considered it evidence of the martyred archbishop’s piety. G.K. Chesterton considered it symbolic of the…
Watching Rome from Chicagoland: Muslims measure new pope’s promise
The announcement of the first U.S.-born pope is important for all Americans but resonates especially strongly in Chicago and its larger community, known locally as Chicagoland. Born on the city’s Southside and raised in the nearby suburb of Dolton, Robert…
Pope Leo XIV will soon have to address the call for women deacons
Like unpaid bills arriving for the inheritor of a house, reports will soon arrive on Pope Leo XIII’s desk offering possible steps to take on some of the most hot-button issues facing the Catholic Church — among them the question…
Catholics see a familiar political divide in Pope Leo XIV and his eldest brother
Just hours after Pope Leo XIV was announced from the loggia, his two brothers began making headlines. John Prevost, the middle brother, took an agonizingly long time to answer Leo’s first papal call, as documented by The Associated Press. Then…
Against American Exceptionalism? Pope Leo XIV v. US Christian Nationalism
During the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, where bishops, archbishops, and abbots convened in 1884 to, among other issues, discuss the establishment of the Catholic University of America, the Archbishop of Minneapolis John Ireland delivered a star-spangled homily.
19th-century Catholic teachings, 21st-century tech: How concerns about AI guided Pope Leo’s choice of name
When Robert Francis Prevost chose the papal name Leo XIV, it could have meant many things. There were 13 Leos before him: The first, Leo the Great, was a fifth-century theologian who helped heal the doctrinal divisions among early Christians; Leo X,…
Bethlehem Catholics pray Pope Leo XIV will keep Palestine a priority of the Vatican
Entering the Nativity Store gift shop, located around the corner from the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square, the first thing many visitors notice are its oversized photos of Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis.
Pope Leo XIV affirms family is based on union between a man and a woman, unborn has inherent dignity
Pope Leo XIV affirmed Friday that the family is founded on the “stable union between a man and a woman,” and that the unborn and elderly enjoy dignity as God’s creatures, articulating clear Catholic teaching on marriage and abortion at the start of his…