A Texas-based bishop, who leads one of the Catholic Church’s three “Anglican ordinariates,” has seen his pastoral care expanded to Australia, as a fellow prelate has been tapped to lead a Vatican dicastery.
Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV thanked the people of Spain’s Canary Islands after passengers exposed to hantavirus aboard a cruise ship were allowed to disembark on the island of Tenerife.
Pope Leo XIV marked the anniversary of his May 8 election by making a pilgrimage to celebrate Mass at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Pompeii, one of Italy’s most beloved Marian shrines, placing his pontificate under the protection of the Virgin Mary.
When Robert Francis Prevost stepped onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica one year ago May 8, he carried with him a piece of paper on which he had carefully written the first words he would utter as Pope Leo XIV. His first speech was, in ways that would only become clear over the year that followed, a preview of what was to come.
The Catholic Church is the guardian of hope, whose members are called to speak clearly against all evil and in defense of human life, Pope Leo XIV said.
Pope Leo XIV has dedicated his prayer intention for the month of May to one of humanity’s most persistent challenges: hunger.
One year in, Pope Leo XIV’s papacy has been rooted in truth, unity, and love — the distinct gifts of his religious order, the Order of St. Augustine — making him a shepherd who leads with a blend of bridge-building and truth-telling, according to those who know him well and from afar.
Many things are named in honor of popes, including shrines, schools, and other structures.
Pope Leo XIV wanted his journey to Africa to highlight the serious injustices continuing there and propose a message of peace to a world marred by conflict and violations of international law.
Pope Leo XIV issued decrees advancing the sainthood causes of five candidates, including a Dutch nun who served in St. Louis in the early 20th century.