Pope Leo XIV prays at the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, Saturday, May 10, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media CNA Staff, May 10, 2025 / 13:42 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV on Saturday visited and prayed at a Marian shrine outside of Rome, greeting the community there and urging them to “be faithful to the Mother.”The Holy Father visited the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano on Saturday afternoon. The sanctuary, located about an hour east of Rome, is run by the religious of the Order of St. Augustine and “houses an ancient image of the Virgin, dear to the order and to the memory of Leo XIII,” according to the Vatican.Pope Leo XIV visits the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, Saturday, May 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe pope greeted the religious at the shrine before praying at both the altar and the Marian image there, according to the Vatican. The Holy Father also prayed St. John Paul II’s prayer to the Mother of […]

The Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris, France is the site where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Catherine Labouré. / Credit: Lawrence OP/Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 11, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA). May is a month to honor mothers. Mother’s Day falls on May 11 this year in the United States and Canada as the Catholic tradition continues of honoring, throughout the entire month, Mary, the mother of God.To recognize the work and sacrifices of mothers, Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, offered a prayer to be said today and throughout the month in thanksgiving for the love and support mothers provide. A Prayer for All MothersGood and gracious God,We thank you for all mothers — the women you have called to bring forth new life and women who provide for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of those entrusted to their care.Give them the courage to raise godly children through happy and difficult times and […]

“Have no fear! Trust in the Lord” Pope Leo XIV waves at a massive, jubilant crowd gathered on St. Peter’ s Square for the Regina Coeli on Sunday, May 11, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA Vatican City, May 11, 2025 / 06:51 am (CNA). “To young people I say: Do not be afraid! Accept the invitation of the Church and Christ the Lord!” declared Pope Leo XIV to thunderous applause during his first Regina Coeli address as an extraordinary crowd of jubilant pilgrims packed St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.The spontaneous call to young people from the first U.S.-born pope echoed the famous words of St. John Paul II in 1978.On Sunday, Leo’s call — to an estimated crowd of 100,000 people — came during an address that coincided with Good Shepherd Sunday, which the new pontiff called “a gift from God” for his inaugural Sunday as bishop of Rome.Traditional folk groups and bands participate in the jubilee pilgrimage at the Vatican. They're gathered for Pope Leo XIV's first Regina […]

null / Credit: Melnikov Dmitriy/Shutterstock CNA Staff, May 11, 2025 / 14:20 pm (CNA). The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has released a new 10th anniversary preface to a major document on the Church’s response to pornography, offering fresh recommendations for parents, clergy, educators, and civil leaders on combatting porn’s influence in an age of increased social isolation and the rise of artificial intelligence.“Create in Me a Pure Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography” calls for a renewed commitment to chastity and offers a message of hope and healing through Christ and the Church’s ministry, positioning the Church as a “field hospital” for those wounded by pornography.The 50-page document includes a new introduction penned by the bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, providing an update to a document the bishops first released in 2015 — years before the social upheaval wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, […]

More than 10,000 faithful gather on May 10, 2025, in front of the Cathedral of Santa María de Chiclayo in Peru to celebrate a Thanksgiving Mass for the election of Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Diego Lopez Marina/EWTN News Chiclayo, Peru, May 11, 2025 / 18:23 pm (CNA). In a jubilant atmosphere, more than 10,000 faithful gathered in front of the Basilica and Cathedral of Santa María de Chiclayo in Peru to celebrate a thanksgiving Mass for the election of Pope Leo XIV, who was bishop of the diocese for more than eight years.The celebration vibrated with joy following the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost Martínez — both a U.S. and Peruvian citizen — as successor to Peter on May 8.Chiclayo Bishop Edinson Farfán (left) presides over a celebration of a Mass of thanksgivining on May 10, 2025. Credit: Diego López Marina/EWTN NewsDozens of local priests joined Chiclayo Bishop Edinson Farfán at the Saturday evening celebration. The plaza in front of the cathedral was outfitted […]

A Planned Parenthood facility in Indianapolis. / Credit: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Pro-life organizations are stepping up their campaign to defund “big abortion” as the reconciliation bill is expected to come up for debate in the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week. On Wednesday, May 7, digital billboards with ads from pro-life organization Live Action lit up Times Square, urging passersby to help defund Planned Parenthood.Since the Trump administration announced its plan to defund Planned Parenthood in March, pro-life leaders have been working with lawmakers and urging citizens to contact their representatives with the hope the reconciliation bill will defund the organization by Memorial Day. With that date only weeks away, activists are campaigning to make it happen.“Although there are multiple reasons why Planned Parenthood deserves to be defunded,” Live Action reported, “the billboard highlighted […]

Pope Leo XIV speaks to journalists on May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Veronica Giacometti/EWTN News Vatican City, May 12, 2025 / 09:22 am (CNA). In his first address to international media on Monday, Pope Leo XIV thanked journalists for their service to the truth and for communicating peace in difficult times.“We are living in times that are both difficult to navigate and to recount. They present a challenge for all of us, but it is one that we should not run away from,” Leo said in the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall on May 12. “On the contrary, they demand that each one of us, in our different roles and services, never give in to mediocrity.”“Thank you, dear friends, for your service to the truth,” he said, also underlining the importance of preserving free speech and the free press.In one of his first audiences, Pope Leo XIV met with several thousand members of the international press to thank them for their “long and tiring days” of […]

A burnt scooter on May 9, 2025, stands on the spot where twins Zian Khan and Urwa Fatima died on May 7 during Pakistani artillery shelling in the main town of Poonch district. / Credit: PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images Bangalore, India, May 12, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA). A Catholic school and convent in India came under shelling from Pakistan military forces last week, with three students killed in the town of Poonch close to the Pakistan border, as fighting between the two countries’ militaries broke out before ending quickly over the weekend.“One shell fell near our Christ School campus at Poonch, killing a twin brother and sister. The siblings were our students,” Jammu Bishop Ivan Pereira told CNA. The Jammu Diocese covers the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir.“Another shell fell over the convent of the Carmelites of Mary Congregation. But it damaged only the water tank and solar panels. The school has been closed and the nuns have been moved to a distant convent,” […]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a press conference after a meeting of European leaders in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on May 10, 2025. / Credit: GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images Vatican City, May 12, 2025 / 12:04 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have spoken on the phone following the pontiff’s plea for lasting peace in the country, the Vatican said Monday.Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, confirmed that the two leaders had spoken after the pope expressed concern for Ukraine during his Sunday address delivered from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.“I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people,” Pope Leo said on Sunday after singing the Regina Coeli prayer with approximately 100,000 people.“May everything possible be done to reach an authentic, just, and lasting peace, as soon as possible,” the Holy Father continued. “Let all the prisoners be freed and the children return […]

Bishop Robert Francis Prevost was named prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops on Jan. 30, 2023. / Credit: Frayjhonattan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Rome Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 14:24 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV traveled to several countries as prior general of the Order of St. Augustine between 2001 and 2013 and also as a member of a Vatican dicastery since 2019. Below are some of the countries (in alphabetical order) the Chicago-born pope has visited — or where he has been based for pastoral reasons — outside of the U.S. in the last three decades.AustraliaAs prior general of the Augustinians, Pope Leo XIV visited Australia in 2002 and 2005. In 2002, he visited the order’s Villanova College in Queensland’s capital city of Brisbane. In 2005, he traveled to New South Wales to visit his confreres and celebrate Mass in Holy Spirit Parish — whose pastoral care is entrusted to the Augustinians — in western Sydney.    Democratic Republic of CongoIn 2009, Pope […]

Pope Leo XIV, when he was a bishop, received the Gold Medal of St. Toribio de Mogrovejo from the Peruvian bishops in 2023. / Credit: Peruvian Bishops’ Conference YouTube/screenshot Lima Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 15:36 pm (CNA). On March 14, 2023, the bishops of Peru awarded the Gold Medal of St. Toribio de Mogrovejo to Bishop Robert Prevost in recognition of his outstanding pastoral work in the country and for being named prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops by Pope Francis.During the ceremony, Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV — referenced how he met with then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio several times during the years when he served as prior general of the Augustinians. “I won’t tell you the reason, but let’s just say that when Cardinal Bergoglio and I met, we weren’t always in agreement,” Prevost said with a smile, without specifying what disagreements he had with Pope Francis.‘I’ll never be a bishop’In thanking the bishops for the award, the now pope recalled […]

null / Credit: ivanko80/Shutterstock CNA Staff, May 12, 2025 / 16:06 pm (CNA). California pregnancy centers filed an appeal last week asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to stop the state from censoring pro-life pregnancy centers that provide abortion pill reversals.The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and the SCV Pregnancy Center in Santa Clarita, California, are asking the court to stop the state of California from censoring pro-life pregnancy centers that provide information about abortion pill reversal. In 2023 California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, sued five pro-life pregnancy centers over their promotion of a drug that is meant to reverse chemical abortions. In the suit, Bonta accused the pregnancy centers of using fraudulent and misleading claims when advertising the abortion pill reversal drug. The lawsuit accused the pregnancy centers of violating California’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law. The May 7 appeal […]

Pope Leo XIV smiles as a jubilant crowd joins in prayer on Sunday, May 11, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 16:36 pm (CNA). As the world celebrates the election of the first pope born in the United States, the president of the only U.S.-based charitable organization dedicated to carrying out the Holy Father’s humanitarian aid projects speculates that Leo XIV’s papacy could increase charitable giving within the Church. “I do think that because Pope Leo is American, he will have a special rapport with Americans that it should lead to increased donation for his causes of the poor and the vulnerable and the marginalized,” said Ward Fitzgerald, the Papal Foundation’s board president. Funded by donations from its “Stewards of St. Peter,” the Papal Foundation supports humanitarian aid projects designated by the pope and the continuing education of priests and religious. “Ninety to 95% of these benefactors are American,” […]

Archbishop Julian Porteous. / Credit: Archdiocese of Hobart Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 17:06 pm (CNA). A Catholic archbishop in Australia is calling attention to an ecumenical statement on human sexuality released last year as the group behind the project seeks to gain approval for the creed from “biblically orthodox leaders” worldwide.Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart is among some 6,000 initial signatories of the “Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity,” a statement affirming fundamental Christian ethics on sex and gender that was drafted last October by a team of over 100 Christian faith leaders, including Catholic clergy.In a Catholic Weekly interview last week, Porteous explained his decision to back the initiative, saying: “I thought it was good ecumenically to show support. And from the Catholic point of view, I felt we had a lot to offer because we have been able to articulate a lot of this material through magisterial teaching, through the […]

U.S. Navy LSTs and other vessels unloading at low tide at Normandy, soon after the June 1944 invasion. USS LST-55 is in the center, behind the closest barrage balloon. USS LST-61 is at right. / Credit: Steck, U.S. Army Signal Corps, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 17:26 pm (CNA). Louis Marius Prevost, the father of Pope Leo XIV, served on a D-Day landing ship during World War II and was a junior lieutenant in the United States Navy.Since Pope Leo XIV became the new pontiff, the world has been eager to learn more about the first U.S.-born pope. The United States Department of Defense (DOD) released a statement about Pope Leo’s late father and his role in the revered “greatest generation” that won World War II.Prevost was born on July 28, 1920, in Chicago. After he graduated from college, he joined the Navy in November 1943 when he was 23 years old. According to the Department of Defense, Prevost became the executive officer of a […]

Mikal Mahdi. / Credit: Federal Public Defenders (proof), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 18:06 pm (CNA). Lawyers who represent the recently executed Mikal Mahdi are alleging that the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) “botched” their client’s firing squad execution, which caused him to scream out in pain and remain conscious for nearly one minute until he eventually died.Mahdi, who was convicted of murdering a police officer and a convenience store worker, died on April 11 at age 42 in South Carolina’s second firing squad execution in the state’s history, both of which occurred this year just five weeks apart.Although firing squad executions in the United States are extremely rare, the state legalized this method of execution, along with executions by the electric chair, in 2021 amid shortages of the drugs needed for lethal injections. Death row inmates can now choose whether to die by firing squad, lethal […]

Monument of the Guardian Angel of Portugal apparition to the three little shepherd children of Fátima. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA National Catholic Register, May 13, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA). May 13 is the optional memorial of Our Lady of Fátima, arguably the most prominent approved apparition of the 20th century. It became famous the world over, particularly for its three-part “secret.”Here are nine things to know about this Marian apparition.1. What happened at Fátima, Portugal?A young shepherd girl, Lucia dos Santos, said she experienced supernatural visitations as early as 1915, two years before the famous appearances of Our Lady of Fátima.In 1917, she and two of her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, were working as shepherds tending their families’ flocks. On May 13, 1917, the three children saw an apparition of a lady from heaven. She told them, among other things, that she would return once a month for six months.At her third appearance, on July 13, Lucia was […]

Pope Leo XIV with his friend Father Hugo Gabriel Sánchez on May 12, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Hugo Gabriel Sánchez Vatican City, May 13, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Father Hugo Gabriel Sánchez of Chiclayo, Peru, had been planning a trip with his mother for months to visit various Marian shrines in Europe, such as Fátima, Medjugorje, and Lourdes, with of course a final stop in Rome.What this diocesan priest could never have imagined was that his arrival in Rome would coincide with the election of “Bishop Roberto” Prevost as successor to St. Peter — the bishop who led his diocese for eight years and with whom he has a close friendship.On the afternoon of Sunday, May 12, Pope Leo XIV made time in his busy schedule to welcome his friend Sánchez and Sánchez’s mother to the Vatican. “The joy was immense; we were able to speak for a little over 30 minutes and give him a painting of Cuzco that we brought from Peru,” Sánchez told ACI Prensa, […]

Delegates at the 2024 Synod on Synodality participate in roundtable meetings on Oct. 10, 2024, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA Vatican City, May 13, 2025 / 11:43 am (CNA). The leadership of the Vatican’s synod office has pledged its full availability and support of Pope Leo XIV in a public letter to the new pontiff shared Tuesday to its website and social media pages.Noting that the synodal journey “continues” under Leo’s guidance, the letter says the General Secretariat of the Synod looks “with confidence to the directions you will indicate, to help the Church grow as a community attentive to listening, close to each person, capable of authentic and welcoming relationships — a home and family of God open to all: a missionary synodal Church.”Signed by Secretary-General Cardinal Mario Grech and undersecretaries Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, and Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín, OSA, the letter explains the path the Synod on […]

Jeanne Vath Ory receives her Regina Matrum Award after a special vigil Mass was celebrated by New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond at her home parish, St. Joan of Arc in LaPlace, Louisiana, on May 12, 2025, the day after Mother’s Day. / Credit: Kim Roberts CNA Staff, May 13, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA). A Catholic mother of 10 and grandmother of 30 was honored by New Orleans’ Archbishop Gregory Aymond during a special vigil Mass on May 12.Jeanne Vath Ory was selected as the 2025 recipient for the “Regina Matrum” or “Queen of Mothers” award, a decades-long tradition in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Established in 1947, the Regina Matrum Award is designed to honor a Catholic mother each year and to highlight the ideals of Catholic motherhood and family life. Kim Roberts, the current chairman of Regina Matrum and former president of the Council of Catholic School Co-operative Clubs (CCSCC), said that every year when they give the award, the recipient is […]

A Planned Parenthood facility in Indianapolis. / Credit: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock CNA Staff, May 13, 2025 / 14:18 pm (CNA). Planned Parenthood’s latest annual report shows a rising number of abortions and increasing federal funding for the abortion giant while other programs such as cancer screening and prevention services decrease.Released on Mother’s Day, Planned Parenthood’s 2023-2024 annual report, titled “A Force for Hope,” revealed that the organization provided 402,230 abortions over the year, an increase of nearly 10,000 abortions from the previous year’s report and a record high in the abortion giant’s history.As abortions increased, taxpayer funding increased as well. Public funding for Planned Parenthood was up by about $100 million from the previous year’s report. At $792.2 million, taxpayer dollars made up nearly 40% of Planned Parenthood’s revenue.Amid the rise in abortions, Planned Parenthood also provided fewer health care services, with 45% fewer […]

Former United States Ambassador to the Holy See Francis Rooney speaks to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Catherine Hadro on Monday, May 12, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 13, 2025 / 14:48 pm (CNA). Former United States Ambassador to the Holy See Francis Rooney said this week that he believes Pope Leo XIV’s relationship with America will “be very powerful.” Speaking to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Catherine Hadro on Monday, Rooney — also a former U.S. representative — said that Leo will be a “fantastic pope” because he “can communicate with people in a very clear but nonthreatening way.”“People will hear his message, and he will inspire people,” Rooney said. Rooney and the pope became friends when “Father Bob,” as Rooney used to know him, began to join meetings at an Augustinian school of which Rooney was on the board.“He was always very insightful in his comments,” Rooney said of the pope, born Robert Prevost. “He’s not […]

Current Chiclayo Bishop Edinson Farfán at a press conference on Friday, May 9, 2025. / Credit: Diego López Marina/ACI Prensa Lima Newsroom, May 13, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA). The current bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, Edinson Farfán, is publicly defending the actions of his predecessor, Bishop Robert Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV — in the face of accusations that he covered up sexual abuse in the diocese.Responding to a question at a press conference about the issue, Farfán stated: “That’s a lie. He has listened, he has respected the processes, and this process is still ongoing… believe me, I am the most interested person in justice being served and, above all, in being able to help the victims.”The bishop of Chiclayo was referring to the allegations of three sisters who met with Prevost in 2022 to report that they had been abused by a priest years earlier when they were minors. They allege that the then-bishop did not open an effective canonical investigation and that the […]

Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Kenney of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 13, 2025 / 16:49 pm (CNA). Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Kenney of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and other Catholics on Monday spoke at the Minnesota Capitol, where they urged lawmakers to continue allowing unauthorized immigrants access to MinnesotaCare, a state-funded program that provides health care to low-income families.Kenney told CNA that unauthorized immigrants “are brothers and sisters, and we need to care for all people. Basic health care is an important feature of who we are as Christians, as Catholics ... We’re not advocating for free health care for undocumented but simply access to it.”The Minnesota Catholic Conference lobbied for the establishment of MinnesotaCare, which in 1992 began providing coverage for low-income working families who earn above the Medicaid threshold (known as […]

Pope Leo XIV, when he was bishop of Chiclayo (Peru), recites the prayer of consecration before Our Lady of Fátima. / Credit: Courtesy of Fátima Mission Peru Lima Newsroom, May 13, 2025 / 17:19 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV, when he was bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, offered a special prayer of consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary before the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima, whose feast day the Catholic Church celebrates on May 13.On Jan. 7, 2019, after having requested a year earlier that the Marian image be brought to Chiclayo from the Fátima shrine in Portugal, then-Bishop Robert Prevost offered a special Mass in St. Mary’s Cathedral that was attended by a large number of faithful.“My memory of the January 2019 consecration is that the bishop [Prevost] agreed to it very easily, out of love for the Virgin. I remember that we priests were on a retreat and we asked him for permission so that we too could receive the image and consecrate ourselves, and he agreed,” said Father […]

Pope Leo XIV speaks to the College of Cardinals in Rome on Saturday, May 10, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media CNA Staff, May 14, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Catholics around the world continue to celebrate the election last week of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States. In addition to being a natural-born American citizen, Leo is also a naturalized citizen of Peru, having ministered there for decades. His election as pope raises several interesting questions from a nationality law perspective. Chiefly: can a U.S. citizen become king of a foreign country and still remain an American citizen? The pope is, after all, an absolute monarch; he possesses, as the Vatican’s Fundamental Law explains, “the fullness of the power of government, which includes the legislative, executive, and judicial powers” of the Vatican City State — a sovereign country that maintains relations with over 175 other nations — and the Holy See, which is the central governing authority of the […]

Pope Leo XIV speaks to participants in the Jubilee of Eastern Churches on May 14, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media Vatican City, May 14, 2025 / 11:29 am (CNA). Pope Leo XIV urged thousands of Eastern Catholics from around the world, many of whom come from places experiencing violence, not to abandon their ancestral lands and assured them that he will do everything he can to bring peace there.“I thank God for those Christians — Eastern and Latin alike — who, above all in the Middle East, persevere and remain in their homelands, resisting the temptation to abandon them. Christians must be given the opportunity, and not just in words, to remain in their native lands with all the rights needed for a secure existence. Please, let us strive for this!” he said May 14.The meeting with members of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches took place in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, part of a three-day jubilee event that included seven Eastern-rite […]

A cropped version of the official portrait of Pope Leo XIV, published by the Vatican on May 10, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 14, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA). Prior to his elevation to the papacy, Pope Leo XIV stayed out of the spotlight on certain reforms backed by his predecessor but maintained a close relationship with Pope Francis and support for pro-life values, the dignity of migrants, care for the environment, and a more synodal Catholic Church.Leo, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, was appointed as bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015 and took on major leadership roles in the Vatican from 2023 through 2025: prefect for the Dicastery for Bishops, where he provided guidance on appointing bishops and cardinals; and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, where he oversaw the Vatican’s relations with the Church in the region.In the past, Leo has been critical of gender ideology, much like Francis. On issues related to homosexuality and […]

Pope Leo XIV gives the homily at Mass with the cardinale electors in the Sistine Chapel on May 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media ACI Prensa Staff, May 14, 2025 / 14:18 pm (CNA). The Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV has decided to “maintain an active presence on social media through official papal accounts” on X @Pontifex and Instagram, creating a new one for the latter platform.In a statement May 13, the Dicastery for Communication said “Leo XIV inherits the X @Pontifex accounts used by Pope Francis and previously by Benedict XVI,” and a new account has also been opened on Instagram.“On Instagram, the new pope’s account is called @Pontifex – Pope Leo XIV, and is the only official account of the Holy Father on this platform in continuity with Pope Francis’ account, @Franciscus,” the dicastery noted, adding that the content published by Pope Francis on X “will soon be archived in the appropriate section of the Holy See’s institutional website,” Vatican.va.It […]

Pope Leo XIV meets with Italian tennis star Jannick Sinner on May 14, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media CNA Staff, May 14, 2025 / 14:48 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV met Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner at the Vatican on Wednesday. Photos shared by Vatican News show the newly elected pope, who has described himself as “quite the amateur tennis player,” warmly greeting the 23-year-old Italian and his family as well as the president of the Italian Tennis Federation, Alberto Binaghi.Sinner, who is ranked No. 1 in the world, is from a predominantly German-speaking region in Italy’s far north. He became the first Italian man to win a major tennis title since 1976 when he bested Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open in 2024, earning kudos from the late Pope Francis. Sinner is currently competing in the 2025 Italian Open, taking place in Rome. Greeting the pope in a room off the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, Sinner presented Pope Leo with a tennis racket and ball and […]