Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said he hopes Pope Leo XIV will “be a dear brother and collaborator … for the rapprochement of our churches, for the unity of the whole Christian family, and for the benefit of all of humankind.”
Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV asked journalists to be peacemakers by shunning prejudice and anger in their reporting, and he called for the release of journalists imprisoned for their work.
With a huge and festive crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV led his first Sunday recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer and urged all Catholics to pray for vocations, especially to the priesthood and religious life.
Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV got in the front seat of a minivan and traveled 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian confreres.
In Pope Leo XIV’s first greeting after being introduced as pope May 8, he described himself as a “son of St. Augustine.”
Full text of the first public homily of Pope Leo XIV, given at a Mass for the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel May 9, 2025.
Where Christians are “mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied” is where the Catholic Church’s “missionary outreach is most desperately needed,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Catholic groups are welcoming Pope Leo XIV — the second pope from the Americas, and the first U.S.-born pontiff — who was elected May 8, the second day of the papal conclave.