LIVE UPDATES: Pope Leo XIV celebrates Pentecost Sunday

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the solemnity of Pentecost in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday with international pilgrims belonging to new Church movements, associations, and communities celebrating this year’s Jubilee Year of Hope in Rome.

Emphasizing the significance of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian, the Holy Father notes that it is the third person of the Blessed Trinity who anoints, heals, and strengthens followers of Jesus to “open borders” in hearts, in relationships with others, and between nations.   

“Let us invoke the Spirit of love and peace, that he may open borders, break down walls, dispel hatred,and help us to live as children of our one Father who is in heaven,” the pope says on a hot Sunday morning.

“Brothers and sisters, Pentecost renews the Church and the world!” he says. “May the strong wind of the Spirit come upon us and within us, open the borders of our hearts, grant us the grace of encounter with God, enlarge the horizons of our love and sustain our efforts to build a world in which peace reigns.”

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday urged Catholics to embrace the Holy Spirit as a source of freedom and grace, addressing a crowd of tens of thousands during his first Pentecost as pope and calling on the faithful to adopt “the way of the Beatitudes” to spread the Gospel message.

The pontiff addressed a massive crowd, estimated by the Vatican at around 70,000, in St. Peter’s Square on June 7 during a prayer vigil there as part of the festivities for the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities.

He told the faithful that “tonight, we sense the fragrance of the chrism with which our foreheads have been anointed.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, baptism and confirmation united us to Jesus’ mission of making all things new, to the kingdom of God,” the pope said. “Just as love enables us to sense the presence of a loved one, so tonight we sense in one another the fragrance of Christ.”

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday said the Catholic Church is open to establishing a common date of Easter among all Christian churches, echoing one of the aims of the Council of Nicaea that met 1,700 years ago.

The pope spoke to participants of the symposium “Nicaea and the Church of the Third Millennium: Towards Catholic-Orthodox Unity,” which took place this week at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

The Holy Father called the 325 Council of Nicaea “foundational for the common journey that Catholics and Orthodox have undertaken together since the Second Vatican Council.”

Christians must not attempt to live out the promises of Christ alone, Pope Leo XIV told a delegation of 250 people in Rome for the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities.

Organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, the annual meeting of moderators of associations of the faithful, ecclesial movements, and new communities comes as more than 70,000 pilgrims are expected to arrive in Rome for the jubilee this weekend, June 7–8.

“The Christian life is not lived in isolation,” the Holy Father said in his Friday address to the delegation, representatives of several lay associations and ecclesial movements. “It is lived with others, in a group and in community, because the risen Christ is present wherever disciples gather in his name.”

Read more.

Two prisoners currently serving sentences in Rome’s Rebibbia prison obtained special permission to participate in Pope Leo XIV’s general audience this past Wednesday.

“We received an official invitation from the Vatican to participate in the audience, and the inmates asked the magistrate for special permission, which was granted,” Father Marco Fibbi, the prison’s chaplain, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. Fibbi accompanied them to St. Peter’s Square with the prison’s director, Teresa Mascolo.

“It was a great gift for the inmates to be able to exchange a few words with the pope,” the Italian priest said.

“We were all very moved because it was Pope Leo XIV’s third general audience. We had the privilege of being among the first to meet him in person. We were impressed by his accessibility, attention, and closeness with which he listened to what the inmates had to say,” Fibbi commented.

Pope Leo XIV held private audiences on Friday with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and President of the European Council Antonio Costa.

According to the Vatican, in a subsequent conversation between Mattarella and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the discussion centered on international issues, especially the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. They also addressed the Church’s contribution to Italy.

Leo will also meet the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, on June 7.

In his audience with members of the Vatican Secretariat of State on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV thanks them for their support in the first month of his pontificate.

Among those present is Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, who introduces the meeting with a brief address. Also participating is Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for general affairs of the Secretariat of State.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary of relations with states within the Secretariat of State, did not participate in the audience because he is in Cuba for the 90th anniversary of relations between that Caribbean country and the Holy See.

At the outset of his speech, Pope Leo thanks the Secretariat of State for assisting him in the “first steps” of his pontificate and for “carrying forward the mission” entrusted to him.

Pope Leo XIV holds an hourlong meeting with members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) on Thursday.

Following the private audience with the Holy Father, the PCPM releases a June 5 statement reiterating the Vatican commission’s commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults with a spirit of “unity and collegiality” among its own members.

“It is with humility and hope that we continue the mission first entrusted to us by Pope Francis in Praedicate Evangelium: to advise the supreme pontiff in the development and promotion of universal safeguarding standards and to accompany the Church in building a culture of accountability, justice, and compassion,” the media release states.

According to the release, the PCPM updates the Holy Father about its various initiatives including:

— The Universal Guidelines Framework to educate Church leaders and pastors in the area of safeguarding

— The Memorare Initiative capacity-building program designed to support local churches in their efforts to protect minors and vulnerable adults

— The Annual Report 2024, which focuses on the theme of “conversional justice” and evaluated the safeguarding capacity of local churches in various regions

The PCPM on Thursday states its intention to present the finalized version of its Universal Guidelines Framework to Pope Leo later this year.

Pope Leo XIV spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call Wednesday afternoon.

“The pope made an appeal for Russia to take a gesture that would favor peace, emphasizing the importance of dialogue to create positive contacts between the parties and seek solutions to the conflict,” Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said in a statement.

Bruni told members of the press that the Holy Father appealed to the Russian leader about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and advocated for the facilitation of aid into affected areas.

The two leaders also discussed Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi’s efforts to facilitate prisoner exchanges. 

Pope Leo XIV meets with the National Italian American Foundation on Wednesday and blesses their work in continuing the spiritual and cultural legacy of their ancestors.

Before holding his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father meets with board members of the leading Italian American foundation and thanks them for their various initiatives in the U.S. and Italy.

“Your work to continue to educate young people regarding Italian culture and history as well as providing scholarships and other charitable assistance in both countries helps to maintain a mutually beneficial and concrete connection between the two nations,” Pope Leo says at the morning meeting.

The foundation, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary, provides $1.5 million each year in educational scholarships and heritage travel opportunities to young students.

Pope Leo XIV holds the third general audience of his pontificate on Wednesday, telling the faithful that even when we feel useless and inadequate, “the Lord reminds us that our life is worthy.”

“Even when it seems we are able to do little in life, it is always worthwhile. There is always the possibility to find meaning, because God loves our life,” Leo said in a sunny St. Peter’s Square on June 4, four days before the one-month mark of his pontificate.

Read the full story here.

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday appoints Pittsburgh Auxiliary Bishop Mark Eckman to lead the northern U.S. diocese, with the bishop-elect succeeding Bishop David Zubik in that role.

A Pittsburgh native, Zubik spent his entire priestly and episcopal career in the diocese, which serves nearly 628,000 Catholics in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania.

Read the full story here.

In his first prayer intention video of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV asks the faithful to pray that the world might grow in compassion during the month of June.

“Let us pray that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from his heart, learn to have compassion on the world,” the pope says in a video released June 3.

The video also includes an original prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to which the month of June is dedicated. 

Watch the video here.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday blessed the cyclists of the Giro d’Italia before the last leg of the multistage international race, telling them they are all welcome in the Catholic Church.

Addressing the 159 cyclists in a square just inside Vatican City, the pope said in English: “May God bless all of you on this last part of the Giro d’Italia. Congratulations to all of you, and may you know that you are always welcome here in the Vatican, you are always welcomed by the Church, which represents God’s love for all people.”

Find out more in this photo essay.

Pope Leo XIV recalls the life and legacy of Cardinal in Pectore Iuliu Hossu, a Romanian Greek Catholic bishop, “pastor and martyr of the faith during the communist persecution in Romania,” who was commemorated Monday in the Vatican and who saved thousands of Jews from death during World War II.

“We have gathered today in the Sistine Chapel to commemorate, in the jubilee year dedicated to hope, an apostle of hope: Blessed Cardinal Iuliu Hossu, Greek Catholic bishop of Cluj-Gherla,” says the Holy Father at the beginning of his address at the commemoration ceremony for the cardinal, who died 55 years ago on May 28, 1970.

“Today,” Pope Leo continues, “he enters this chapel after St. Paul VI, on April 28, 1969, named him cardinal in pectore (in secret) while he was in prison for his fidelity to the Church of Rome.”

Pope Leo XIV on Monday says Christian families are called to be missionaries of the Gospel to new generations, especially in light of a widespread “privatization” of faith preventing many people from approaching the Church.

In the Holy Father’s message to participants of a June 2–3 seminar organized by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life on the theme “Evangelizing with the Families of Today and Tomorrow: Ecclesiological and Pastoral Challenges,” he says the Church needs to be farsighted in discerning the needs of parents and children often caught up in “worldly concerns” or misled by “illusory lifestyles.”

“Sadly, in the face of this need, an increasingly widespread ‘privatization’ of faith often prevents these brothers and sisters from knowing the richness and gifts of the Church, a place of grace, fraternity, and love,” Pope Leo shares in his June 2 message.

Pope Leo is meeting Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan, this Monday morning, according to the Vatican.

The Belgian-born Franciscan, who serves as Latin-rite archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan, ministers to approximately 9,000 Catholics within Iran’s predominantly Shiite Muslim population of 91 million.

Last week the Belgian cardinal was a prominent participant at the Holy Blood Procession in Bruges.

After that encounter, the pontiff is also attending a commemorative act honoring Blessed Cardinal Iuliu Hossu, the Romanian Greek Catholic prelate who endured decades of communist persecution.

Pope Leo XIV is urging French Catholics to embrace a profound spiritual renewal by following the example of three beloved saints as France marks the centenary of their canonization this month.

In his first message to the French bishops’ conference, released by the Holy See Press Office on Saturday, the Holy Father highlights St. John Eudes, St. John Mary Vianney, and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face as powerful models for contemporary evangelization.

Read the full story here.

Pope Leo XIV greets Giro d’Italia cyclists as they pass through Vatican City as part of the prestigious race, offering words of encouragement and his apostolic blessing to the 159 riders from 29 countries.

Speaking from the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs beside St. Peter’s Basilica, the pontiff welcomes the athletes with warmth and wisdom.

“You are models for the young people of the world,” he tells the assembled cyclists, emphasizing the global appeal of the Giro d’Italia beyond Italy’s borders.

The pope highlights the holistic nature of athletic excellence, encouraging the riders to care for both body and spirit.

“I hope that, as you have learned to care for the body, your spirit will always be blessed and that you are always attentive to the whole human being: body, mind, heart, and spirit,” he says before imparting an apostolic blessing.

Pope Leo XIV declares families “the cradle of the future of humanity” as he celebrates Mass for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly at St. Peter’s Square. Thousands of pilgrims from nearly 120 countries gather under clear Roman skies for one of the major events of the Holy Year of Hope 2025.

The Holy Father emphasizes that marriage represents “not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman: a love that is total, faithful, and fruitful.”

Leo cites several beatified married couples as exemplars, including Louis and Zélie Martin, parents of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

Read the full story here.

Pope Leo XIV joins hundreds of faithful on Saturday evening in the Vatican Gardens for the traditional conclusion of the Marian month, participating in a candlelit rosary procession that winds from the Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini to the Grotto of Lourdes.

The procession prayerfully follows the path of the Joyful Mysteries, with participants stopping at stations representing key moments in the lives of Jesus and Mary, including the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple, and Finding of Jesus in the Temple.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Vicar General for Vatican City State and Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, presides over the rosary prayer before the pope’s arrival.

Speaking at the Grotto, Pope Leo XIV describes the vigil as “a gesture of faith through which, in a simple and devout way, we gather under the maternal mantle of Mary.”

He connects the evening’s devotion to the current Jubilee Year, emphasizing themes of praise, pilgrimage, and hope.

The pope particularly praises the rosary as a prayer with “a Marian character and a Christological heart,” quoting Saint John Paul II’s observation that it “concentrates in itself the profundity of the entire Gospel message.”

Leo concludes by thanking the Benedictine Sisters of Mater Ecclesiae Monastery for their “hidden and constant prayer” in support of the Vatican community.

Pope Leo XIV has updated his personal information for a new Peruvian national identity document (DNI, by its Spanish acronym), according to that country’s National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC, by its Spanish acronym).

According to the Andina news agency, the official Peruvian media outlet, Pope Leo received four RENIEC registrars Friday at the Vatican in a meeting that was not included in the list of audiences released by the Holy See Press Office.

Pope Leo XIV welcomes Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople on Friday for a second private audience at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, with discussions focusing on the pontiff’s planned official visit to Turkey later this year.

The morning meeting between the Catholic and Orthodox leaders is described as “very friendly and cordial” by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The two religious leaders “discuss in detail the official visit of the pope to Turkey, planned for this year, as well as other current topics.”

This marks the second encounter between Pope Leo XIV and Patriarch Bartholomew since the American pontiff’s election, following their initial meeting on May 19 when they first explored the possibility of a papal journey to Nicaea for the upcoming council anniversary.

Pope Leo XIV encouraged the Anabaptist (Mennonite) movement to live with love the call to Christian unity and the mandate to serve others.

The Holy Father made the statement in a message published May 29 by the Vatican and sent to participants commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement in Zurich, Switzerland.

At the beginning of his message, Pope Leo emphasized that “by receiving the Lord’s peace and accepting his call, which includes being open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the followers of Jesus can immerse themselves in the radical newness of Christian faith and life. Indeed, such a desire for renewal characterizes the Anabaptist movement itself.”

Pope Leo XIV on Friday stated that authentic peace “takes shape from the ground up” when the differences and conflicts they entail “are not set aside but acknowledged, understood, and surmounted.”

Pope Leo began his address to members of various peace movements, whom he received May 30 at the Vatican, with the same words he greeted the faithful when he was elected on May 8: “Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you!”

The pontiff thanked them for launching the “Arena of Peace” meeting in Verona in May 2024. The event was chaired by Pope Francis and attended by some 300 delegates representing associations and movements that participated in the event.

Among the groups and movements present in the Clementine Hall on Friday were Mediterranea Saving Humans, Libera, the Italian Network for Peace and Disarmament, Catholic Action leaders, Doctors Without Borders, and the Focolare Movement.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Robert Sarah as his special envoy for the celebrations taking place in France commemorating the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of St. Anne to the Breton peasant Yvon Nicolazic.

The Vatican stated that, as the papal special envoy, the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments will preside over “the liturgical celebrations to be held July 25-26 at the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-d’Auray, Diocese of Vannes (France), on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of St. Anne to the Breton peasant Yvon Nicolazic.”

In the early 1620s, Nicolazic experienced a vision of a radiant lady, later identified as St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She reportedly instructed him to rebuild a long-lost chapel dedicated to her on his land.

World-class cyclists will greet Pope Leo XIV and circle Vatican City on Sunday before embarking on the final lap of the Giro d’Italia, a multistage bicycle race that concludes in Rome.

The professional race, which started in Albania on May 9, is among the top three most important international multistage races in the world, together with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana. It includes 21 stages, mostly in Italy.

The last stage of the 108th edition of the race will take place on June 1, starting from the Caracalla Baths, just south of the Coliseum, and proceeding toward the Vatican.

The 1.8-mile noncompetitive ride through the Vatican will start from the Petriano Square, just south of St. Peter’s Basilica inside the city state, where Pope Leo XIV will greet the athletes at the starting line.  

When the newly elected pontiff stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to address the Catholic faithful on May 8, his first decision as pope — to take the papal name Leo — signaled the direction he intends to take his papacy in handling certain social questions that need moral guidance, including artificial intelligence (AI).

In his first meeting with the College of Cardinals on May 10, the pope confirmed he took the name to honor Pope Leo XIII, who he said “addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution” with the encyclical Rerum Novarum at the tail end of the 1800s.

The encyclical, which set the foundations for Catholic social teaching, can help guide the Church as it seeks to offer moral insight on “developments in the field of artificial intelligence,” the new pontiff explained, adding that the rise of AI poses “new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”

In the influential encyclical, Leo XIII eschewed both socialism and unrestrained business power, opting for cooperation between competing interests that is centered on the dignity of the human person. Pope Leo XIV’s comments suggest these same principles will shape the Holy Father’s approach to similar questions surrounding AI.

CNA’s Tyler Arnold has more.

Those attending the June 14 celebration honoring Pope Leo XIV at Rate Field in Chicago will hear directly from the new pontiff.

The Archdiocese of Chicago announced that recently installed Pope Leo will deliver a “special video message” to the world’s youth at the event at the Chicago White Sox’s home stadium.

The celebration will also include a Mass, music, a film, and in-person testimonials about Pope Leo XIV, a South Side native and lifelong White Sox fan. 

The public is invited to attend the upcoming “celebration of the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born and raised in the Chicago area.”

At the end of Wednesday’s general audience, Pope Leo XIV turned his attention to the people suffering the devastating consequences of war, especially in Ukraine and Gaza.

During his greeting to the Italian-speaking faithful, the Holy Father lamented that the Ukrainian people are being hit by “serious new attacks” against civilians and infrastructure.

Pope Leo XIV also referred to the Gaza Strip, where “the cry of mothers, of fathers who clutch the lifeless bodies of children … rises ever more intensely to heaven.” 

He also lamented those “who are continually forced to move in search of a little food and safer shelter from bombing.”

Pope Leo XIV held the second general audience of his pontificate today in which he reflected on the parable of the good Samaritan.

At the beginning of his catechesis, addressed to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father recalled that the parables of the Gospel offer an opportunity “to change perspective and open ourselves up to hope.”

The lack of hope, the pontiff explained, is sometimes due “to the fact that we fixate on a certain rigid and closed way of seeing things,” and the parables “help us to look at them from another point of view.”

Pope Leo XIV has reinstated the “conclave bonus” given to Vatican employees for their service during the sede vacante period. 

Approximately 5,000 staff working for the Roman Curia and state institutions — such as the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Pharmacy, the Vatican Library, and Vatican Media — will receive an extra 500 euros (about $566) in their June paychecks.

The custom of distributing conclave bonuses by newly-elected popes is seen as a gesture of gratitude toward Vatican employees who had worked, often overtime, in the weeks following the death of a pope until the election of a new one. 

Pope Leo XIV is now granting apostolic blessings to the faithful around the world, a spiritual gesture that can be officially requested through the Vatican’s Apostolic Almoner’s Office.

Find out more here.

The city of Chiclayo in Peru erupted with excitement when the news broke that American missionary Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost Martínez, who pastored their diocese from 2015 to 2023, had been elected as the new successor to St. Peter.

“There was tremendous excitement. We all cheered upon learning that he was now going to be our highest authority in the Catholic Church,” recalled Edinson Delgado, administrator of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo diocesan Catholic school in Chiclayo.

There are several Catholic schools in Chiclayo, most of them run by religious congregations. However, Delgado’s is the only one that reports directly to the diocese, which allowed Delgado, as school administrator, to maintain close and frequent contact with Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV. He thus knows firsthand what his main concerns were.

Read more.

Matthew Bunson, senior Vatican analyst for the National Catholic Register; Register Rome Correspondent Edward Pentin; and Vatican editor for EWTN News Frank Rocca discuss the early days of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV on the latest edition of “Register Radio.”

Pope Leo XIV has appointed as head of the Vatican’s bioethics think tank Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro, the longtime deputy of its outgoing president, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, signaling a desire to continue the course set under Pope Francis.

Until his appointment on Tuesday, Pegoraro, 65, had served since 2011 as chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life, acting as a close aide to Paglia throughout his turbulent term as president, which was marked by the appointments of pro-abortion members and problematic statements regarding assisted suicide and contraception. Paglia is retiring after turning 80.

Read more from Edward Pentin at the National Catholic Register.

Pope Leo XIV authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decrees recognizing three new venerables, including two missionaries and an Indian bishop.

In his first audience since beginning his pontificate with the prefect of the Vatican dicastery, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the Holy Father approved the “offering of life” of the Servant of God Alejandro Labaca Ugarte of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.

Read more about them here.

The Augustinian nuns of Lecceto are a small community living in a hermitage 10 kilometers (a little more than six miles) from the city of Siena in Italy. The hermitage bears witness to an ancient and rich history that began in the 12th century and originates with the Augustinian order. 

Today, several Augustinian nuns live here, praying, working, and studying — a contemplative life that mirrors that of the new Pope Leo XIV, who knows the nuns of Lecceto well and has visited them on several occasions in their beautiful setting among the olive trees and vineyards of Tuscany. 

ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, talked with Sister Sara Maria to share the activities of the nuns at the monastery and the nuns’ relationship with Pope Leo XIV. Read the interview here.

Pope Leo XIV is framing the response to artificial intelligence as a critical mission for his papacy. Bioethics professor and priest Father Michael Baggot, LC, explains what’s at stake with Catherine Hadro on “EWTN News In Depth.”

Pope Leo XIV surprised a pilgrimage of Africans and encouraged them to receive strength from the faith after a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday.

“It is our faith that enables us to see the light of Jesus Christ in our lives and to understand how important it is to live our faith,” Leo said to the group, which was gathered at the Altar of the Chair.

African ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, together with colleagues and family members, participated in the jubilee pilgrimage on the theme of “Hope for Peace in Africa,” led by Cardinals Peter Turkson and Francis Arinze, and Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu.

The pope in his brief greeting encouraged the pilgrims to have the hope of Jesus Christ, “that all of us together will continue to walk united as brothers and sisters to praise our God, to recognize that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God, and to place those gifts at the service of others.”

“All of us together,” Leo added, “[are] filled with the great witness that you are all giving and that the continent of Africa gives to the whole world. We say, ‘Thank you, Lord Jesus, and may your name be praised.’ God bless you all.”

The Vatican on Monday announced the release of a four-stamp collection to commemorate the beginning of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate.

The 1.25-, 1.30-, 2.45-, and 3.20-euro stamps bearing official photos of the new pontiff will be issued by the Vatican Postal and Philately Service on Tuesday, May 27, and will be available for sale from its post offices — including the one located in St. Peter’s Square — and online.

Two stamps feature the Holy Father on the day of his May 8 election wearing his papal attire including the papal stole and red mozzetta. The other two stamps are images of the first Mass Pope Leo XIV celebrated with the cardinals the day after his election in the Sistine Chapel. 

The Vatican also announced it will soon release other stamps commemorating saints and historical events including: the fifth centenary of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the 50th anniversary of the canonization of St. Vicenta Maria, St. Mary of Jesus Crucified, and the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.

Following the Mass where he took possession of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo XIV proceeded to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where the Virgin Mary is venerated under the title “Salus Populi Romani” (“Health of the Roman People”).

The Holy Father arrived at the basilica shortly after 7 p.m. local time. Upon entering, he blessed the faithful gathered inside with a brief sprinkling of holy water.

He then entered the chapel that houses the Marian icon, traditionally attributed to St. John the Evangelist, and, kneeling, prayed for a few minutes before placing a bouquet of flowers at the feet of the Blessed Mother’s image.

Pope Leo XIV delivered his first homily as bishop of Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, where he took possession of his cathedra (throne) on Sunday.

The pontiff said ecclesial communion is built “on our knees, through prayer and constant commitment to conversion” as he invoked the example of the first Christians, who faced the challenges of proclaiming the Gospel to a pagan world.

Reflecting on the episode from the Acts of the Apostles, where the early Christians debated about whether Gentile converts had to follow the law of Moses, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that “this was no easy matter; it called for much patience and mutual listening.”

“Today I can say that through you and with you, I am Roman.” With these words, Pope Leo XIV addressed the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, who greeted him just minutes before he made his way to the Basilica of St. John Lateran to take possession of the chair of the bishop of Rome. 

The armored Volkswagen SUV transporting the pope departed from the Vatican around 4 p.m. local time and headed for the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome, where he was scheduled to be installed as bishop of Rome after celebrating Mass at 5 p.m. 

Before arriving at the basilica — the first major Christian house of worship built in Rome after Emperor Constantine legalized religious freedom in A.D. 313 — the official vehicle stopped at Piazza dell’Aracoeli at the foot of the Capitoline Hill steps, where the main entrance to the Palazzo Senatorio, the seat of Rome’s municipal government, is located. There, Gualtieri welcomed the pope. 

In his first Regina Caeli from the window of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo XIV thanks the faithful for the affection they have shown him while also asking them — as his predecessor Francis often did — to pray for him. 

“Just a few days ago, I began my ministry among you, and above all, I wish to thank you for the affection you are showing me; at the same time, I ask you to sustain me with your prayer and closeness,” exclaims the pontiff, who until this Sunday had prayed the Marian prayer from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. 

Thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square, waving flags from various countries and holding signs that read “Long live Pope Leo XIV!” 

Read more.

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday met with employees of the Vatican and their families for the first time as pontiff, praising them for what he said was their “very important” work to “preserve and transmit” much of the Catholic Church.

“The Curia is the institution that preserves and transmits the historical memory of a Church, of the ministry of its bishops,” the pope told the assembly on Saturday morning in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, observing: “Popes pass; the Curia remains.”

“To work in the Roman Curia means to contribute to keeping the memory of the Apostolic See alive,” he said, urging workers to “cooperate in the great cause of unity and love.”

“Each person can be a builder of unity with his attitudes toward colleagues, overcoming inevitable misunderstandings with patience, with humility, putting himself in the in the shoes of others, avoiding prejudices, and also with a good dose of humor, as Pope Francis taught us,” he said.

EWTN officially launched the first authoritative biography of Pope Leo XIV, which is available for purchase now, during an event at the Vatican on May 22.

“Leo XIV: Portrait of the First American Pope,” written by Matthew Bunson, vice president and editorial director at EWTN News, tells the story of Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost, who was elected the new Holy Father on May 8.

Bunson, a Church expert and longtime Vatican journalist who has written over 50 books, said at the book launch at the Campo Santo Teutonico in Rome that Leo’s diverse experience as a pastor, prior general, missionary and bishop in Peru, and as a cardinal have given him a profound understanding of the global Church.

Find out more here.

Pope Leo XIV’s emphasis on faith in the risen Christ is fundamental for the Church, particularly in Europe, Italian Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco says.  

In an interview with ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, the archbishop emeritus of Genoa and former president of the Italian Episcopal Conference says Pope Leo’s first public address after his May 8 election was an invitation for Catholics to deepen their faith in the centrality of Jesus Christ.

“The pope began [his pontificate] with ‘peace be with you’ and immediately continued ‘it is the peace of the risen Christ,’” Bagnasco tells ACI Stampa’s Marco Mancini. “The two things must not be separated because the message of the Holy Father would be distorted.”

The leadership of the European bishops’ conference says Pope Leo XIV did not speak as much as he was “welcoming, available, and ready to listen” to their concerns during a meeting at the Vatican on Friday morning. 

The Russia-Ukraine war and the need to avoid rearmament in Europe was one of the central topics of the private meeting, according to Bishop Mariano Crociata, president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), who spoke during a press conference after the audience, as was reported by SIR news agency. 

“The pope interacted with a certain immediacy, showing great concern that rearmament could have repercussions in terms of reducing social commitments for the weaker sections of society and shifting capital to arms,” the Italian bishop says.

In an interview with the Daily Compass portal on Thursday, Cardinal William Goh, the archbishop of Singapore, said he hopes for greater doctrinal clarity from Pope Leo XIV. 

“If we are not clear about what the Church teaches, it is very difficult to work together in unity. Although both the so-called ‘left’ and ‘right’ of the Church are interested in promoting the mission of evangelization, there has been an internal division on certain issues such as marriage, LGBTQ+ rights, and transgender rights. These issues have divided the Church because, at a certain point, it became unclear what is right.”

The cardinal said that as an Augustinian, Pope Leo has “a solid foundation in the tradition and spirituality of St. Augustine.”

Read more from CNA Deutsch.

Edward Pentin, senior Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and Philip Lawler, editor of Catholic World News, join “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” to provide insight and analysis of Pope Leo XIV’s first two weeks as pope and what his first actions as pontiff could tell us about the trajectory of his papacy:

The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, and the minister of foreign trade and tourism, Desilú León, have announced the launch of a new tourism route in the country.

The route, known as “Paths of Pope Leo XIV,” highlights the places where the Holy Father — formerly known as Bishop Robert Prevost — exercised his fruitful pastoral ministry in the Andean nation.

The route covers four of the country’s regions: Lambayeque, Piura, La Libertad, and Callao, key locations in the ministry of the man who is now Pope Leo XIV, the first Peruvian citizen to become pope.

Learn more here.

Pope Leo XIV delivered an address to the Pontifical Mission Societies on Thursday thanking its members for living the Church’s call to evangelize to all nations with a spirit of communion and universality in union with the pope.

Approximately 120 national directors connected to the Vatican’s four missionary bodies — the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of the Holy Childhood, the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, and the Missionary Union — and 20 members of the Dicastery for Evangelization met with the Holy Father on the first day of their general assembly taking place in Rome from May 22–28.

Read more.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sister Tiziana Merletti as secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

According to the Vatican Press Office, the 66-year-old consecrated religious previously served as superior general of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor for nine years.

She will report directly to another nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, whom Pope Francis appointed in January as prefect of the Vatican department, responsible for all matters concerning the government, discipline, studies, assets, rights, and privileges of institutes of consecrated life.

Pope Leo XIV, the first pope to come from the Order of St. Augustine (OSA), made a visit very early in his pontificate to the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, near Rome. It houses a famous image of the Virgin Mary that according to tradition appeared there under miraculous circumstances.

Known by the title “Our Lady of Good Counsel” or “Mother of Good Counsel,” the small image of the Virgin Mary housed in the church at Genazzano has been held dear by the Augustinians for centuries. The Midwest Augustinians, which Pope Leo led as prior provincial before his election, oversee the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel.

During his May 10 visit to the church, Leo spoke of the Virgin Mary’s protection and the importance of devotion to her. He prayed at the altar and before the Marian image there, and also prayed a prayer to the Mother of Good Counsel with the assembly.

Learn more about his devotion here.

In one of the first appointments of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV on Thursday appointed Bishop Michael Pham as bishop of the Diocese of San Diego. He will rise from the position of auxiliary bishop there and succeed Cardinal Robert McElroy as head of the diocese.

Having received his episcopal consecration in September 2023, the 58-year-old Vietnam-born bishop has also served as titular bishop of Cercina. He was appointed the San Diego Diocese’s temporary administrator after McElroy was installed as bishop of Washington in March.

Since his ordination to the priesthood in 1999, Pham has ministered to Catholic faithful in parishes throughout the San Diego Diocese.

Read more.

The village of Dolton, a suburb just south of Chicago and the hometown of Pope Leo XIV, is seeking to acquire his childhood home for use as a historical site.

Steve Budzik, the home’s listing broker, told CNA he and the home’s current owner, Pawel Radzik, are eager to work with the village and come to an agreement. 

“The seller wants to sell and the village wants to buy,” Budzik told CNA. “The question is: How do we determine what is fair market value for something so unique, so rare? There are no comps, there is nothing else like this.”

Read more.

Tech company eCatholic is collecting video messages of prayer, encouragement, and support from Catholics across the globe this month to create a montage of “blessings” for Pope Leo XIV.

Jason Jaynes, CEO of eCatholic, said the initiative was born during a meeting earlier this month when a team member asked: “Wouldn’t it be a really great and cool initiative [if] we could let Catholics all over the world share their blessings with the new pope?”

The effort, launched shortly after Pope Leo XIV’s election, has already received submissions from “every continent across the globe,” Jaynes told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Catherine Hadro.

Find out more here.

Pope Leo XIV on May 20 visited St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica, one of the papal basilicas located outside Rome, to pray at the tomb of the “apostle to the Gentiles.”

Upon his arrival, the Holy Father was welcomed by basilca abbot Father Donato Ogliari, OSB, and the archpriest of the basilica, Cardinal James Michael Harvey.

Accompanied by Benedictine monks, custodians of the church built over the tomb of St. Paul the Apostle, Pope Leo XIV entered the basilica through the Holy Door amid the chants of the Sistine Chapel choir and the Benedictine community.

Read more about the historic visit.

It’s been less than two weeks since Pope Leo XIV was elected the 267th pope, and in that short time, he seems to have pulled off the incredible feat of winning over most Catholics at a time of deep division within the Church.

The Catholic Church is a global “corporation” — not in the modern business sense, but in the original meaning of the word: a “corpus,” a body, the body of Christ.

And just as all eyes are on a new CEO, the world is looking at Pope Leo for signs that he is the right man for the job of St. Peter’s successor — a role that the catechism teaches is “the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.”

The early reviews from corporate management experts? Zelda Caldwell has more at the National Catholic Register.

Pope Leo XIV will hold a meeting of cardinals on June 13 to give the final approval to the canonizations of several beatified men and women.

The ordinary public consistory, as it is called, will be the first of Leo’s pontificate. Pope Francis had called for the consistory in late February, when he was in the hospital, but the date was never set.

At the consistory, cardinals will vote to approve the canonizations of five beatified men and women whose causes were advanced earlier this year by Pope Francis. The vote of the cardinals marks the final step in the canonization process and allows a date for the Mass of canonization to be set.

Read more from CNA Rome Correspondent Hannah Brockhaus.

A new biography of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States, is now available from EWTN. 

“Leo XIV: Portrait of the First American Pope,” written by Matthew Bunson, vice president and editorial director at EWTN News, is the first authoritative biographical portrait of Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, who was elected the new Holy Father on May 8. 

The book will be officially launched at a May 22 event set to be held at the Vatican’s Campo Santo Teutonico in the Aula Benedict XVI at 5:30 p.m. local time.

Learn more here.

Pope Leo XIV holds his first general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, issuing an appeal for Gaza, which he calls an “increasingly worrying and painful” situation, harming children, elderly, and the sick in particular.

“I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of decent humanitarian aid and to end the hostilities,” the pontiff urges.

Addressing thousands of people from around the world on May 21, Leo recalls “with much gratitude the beloved Pope Francis” one month to the day since his death.

The inaugural catechesis of the first U.S.-born pope picks up the theme of “Jesus Christ Our Hope,” begun by Francis, with a teaching on the parable of the sower, asking the question: “In what situation of life today is the word of God reaching us?”

“Let us ask the Lord for the grace always to welcome this seed that is his word. And if we realize we are not a fruitful soil, let us not be discouraged, but let us ask him to work on us more to make us become a better terrain,” Leo says.

Read more about the general audience here.

Singapore’s Cardinal William Goh believes Pope Leo XIV will build a greater unity within the Church, particularly for Catholic faithful often divided on matters of Church doctrine and morality.

Calling the new pontiff a “gift of God” in an interview with EWTN News Vice President Matthew Bunson, Goh said the Holy Father is the “right person” to lead the Church toward synodality and explain the balance between “orthodoxy and being progressive.”

Read more of the interview here.

Pope Leo XIV has signaled that Catholic unity is one of his top priorities. If so, he has his work cut out for him — but also clear opportunities.

The new Roman pontiff’s call for the Catholic Church to be “a sign of unity and communion” for the whole world, made during his opening Mass on May 18, comes at a time when the Church itself is deeply divided. Disputes in the past decade over everything from the Traditional Latin Mass to synodality, curial appointments to American cardinals, have left Catholics often fighting among themselves instead of attracting others.

But because these divisions are so widespread, so are the opportunities for Leo XIV to take steps toward healing internal wounds and strengthening bonds.

Read more from Jonathan Liedl at the National Catholic Register.

Perhaps many Catholics wonder who Pope Leo XIV’s favorite saint is. A Peruvian missionary priest who is a close friend and confidant of the pontiff said he knows the answer in this little-known devotion of the Holy Father, who used to pray to this saint on his knees in a small chapel near Chiclayo in northern Peru.

“St. Nicholas of Tolentine is, without a doubt, his favorite saint. He is the protector of his perpetual vows, his great devotion within Augustinian spirituality,” said Peruvian priest Father David Farfán Guerrero, whom the Holy Father met in 1985 in Chulucanas in the Piura district of the country.

Read more from ACI Prensa’s Diego Lopez Marina.

Pope Leo XIV carries on his pectoral cross, among others, a relic of an Augustinian martyr bishop, Anselmo Polanco, who was executed during the 1936–1939 Spanish Civil War. 

In addition to bearing bone fragments of St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica, the pontiff’s cross includes two relics of Spanish Augustinian bishops: St. Thomas of Villanova, archbishop of Valencia and a reformer of the Church in the 15th and 16th centuries, and Polanco, the martyred Spanish bishop of Teruel.

Here’s more on Pope Leo XIV’s connection to Spanish Civil War martyrs and the Valley of the Fallen.

The Archdiocese of Chicago will host a celebration at Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox, on June 14 to honor Pope Leo XIV, according to a statement released by the archdiocese. 

The public is invited to attend the upcoming “once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born and raised in the Chicago area.”

Find out more.

A 36-minute video purporting to show Pope Leo XIV reading a statement denouncing colonialism and praising Captain Ibrahim Traoré,the 37-year-old leader of Burkina Faso, has garnered nearly a million views on YouTube as of Monday. 

Is the video real? Read our fact check here.

Pope Leo XIV meets with faith leaders at the Vatican, emphasizing his commitment to continue Pope Francis’ legacy on synodality in relation to ecumenical dialogue with other churches and religions.

Inviting representatives of other Christian churches, ecclessial communities, and other religions who attended his Sunday inauguration Mass to the Apostolic Palace for a private audience, the Holy Father states his desire to continue the Church’s “ecumenical journey and interreligious dialogue” following the legacy of his predecessors St. John XXIII and Pope Francis. 

“Synodality and ecumenism are closely linked,” he says. “I wish to assure you of my intention to continue Pope Francis’ commitment to promoting the synodal character of the Catholic Church and to developing new and concrete forms for an ever more intense synodality in the ecumenical field.”

Read more.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirms that U.S. President Donald Trump invited Pope Leo XIV to the White House. The invitation was made in a letter from Trump that was hand-delivered to the pope by Vice President JD Vance on Monday.

In a video of the meeting between the vice president and Pope Leo, Vance can be heard saying “I wanted to make sure I gave you that letter,” and in his response Pope Leo can be heard saying “at some point.”

Read more.

Pope Leo XIV, in one of his first personnel appointments, names Cardinal Baldassare Reina grand chancellor of the Pontifical Theological Institute John Paul II for Marriage and the Family, replacing Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who turned 80 on April 20.

Reina, 54, is vicar general of the Diocese of Rome since 2024. As part of that role, he is also grand chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University, the home of the John Paul II Institute.

Pope Leo’s appointment of Reina as grand chancellor appears to be a return to the former practice of linking the leadership of the institute to the vicar general of Rome. This practice had been changed under Pope Francis, who named Paglia to the role in 2016.

The following year, in 2017, Francis made the controversial decision to re-found the institute, originally established by Pope John Paul II in 1982 under the name the Pontifical Institute John Paul II for Studies on Marriage and Family, broadening its focus from moral theology to the social sciences. When new statutes were issued in 2019, the institute was also criticized for not renewing some of the contracts of longtime faculty and for other hiring decisions.

Paglia, who is president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, tells CNA on May 19 it was foreseen he would be replaced as chancellor of the John Paul II institute after turning 80, in accordance with Vatican guidelines. He said he does not know when he may be replaced as head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, but given his age, it is reasonable it may also be soon.

He declines to comment on the institute’s controversies under his leadership.

Pope Leo XIV holds a private meeting Monday with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the papal library.

Vance and Rubio also meet Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Rubio’s Vatican counterpart, with whom they discuss U.S. and international issues.

According to the Vatican, the Americans spoke with Gallagher about collaboration between Church and state, issues relevant to ecclesial life and religious freedom, and world conflicts.

Hannah Brockhaus reports on the audiences here.

Pope Leo XIV delivered this homily at the Mass for the Initiation of the Petrine Ministry in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, May 18, after being elected the 266th successor of St. Peter on May 8.

Read the full text here.

On the day of his papal inauguration, Pope Leo XIV is holding private meetings with several world leaders, beginning with Dina Boluarte, the president of Peru. Boluarte’s office says in a post on X the pope and president met in the sacristy of St. Peter’s Basilica and discussed “the welfare of all Peruvians.”

Leo was bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, from 2015 to 2023, and is a dual American and Peruvian citizen.

There are no details about Leo’s private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who congratulates the pontiff “on the beginning of this very special mission,” in a post on X.

In his Regina Caeli message on Sunday, Leo prays for “our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of war,” noting that “war-torn Ukraine awaits negotiations for a just and lasting peace.”

The pontiff invokes the intercession of Star of the Sea, Our Lady of Good Counsel, “for the gift of peace, for support and comfort for those who suffer, and for the grace for all of us to be witnesses to the risen Lord.”

On X, Zelenskyy writes: “May the [pope’s] prayers for a just peace and a life of dignity for all people be heard.”

Pope Leo XIV has begun his ministry as head of the 1.4 billion members of the universal Catholic Church, acknowledging divisions among the faithful with a call for fraternal communion and unity at his inaugural Mass.

Addressing an estimated 150,000 people crowded into St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding streets, the 69-year-old pope, elected May 8, said: “I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”

At the Mass, concelebrated with the members of the College of Cardinals, Leo expressed his intention to “come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.”

Before delivering his homily, Leo received the symbols of the papacy, the pallium and the fisherman’s ring, in a richly-symbolic rite including an act of obedience and fidelity from representatives of the College of Cardinals and “the people of God.”

*All Times U.S. Eastern

Tune in to EWTN on Sunday morning, May 18.

SUNDAY, May 18, 3 a.m., live

Mass for the Initiation of the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome, Leo XIV

EWTN From St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Holy Mass for the historic inauguration of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV.

Encores:

• Sunday, May 18, at noon

• Sunday, May 18, at 6 p.m.

More information at the National Catholic Register.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among royalty, presidents, prime ministers, and numerous international leaders and dignitaries — representing approximately 200 foreign delegations — who will attend Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass at the Vatican on Sunday, May 18. Kristina Millare has the full list.

In his first significant address on Catholic social teaching, Pope Leo XIV offers a nuanced vision of doctrine that signals potential shifts in tone and approach from his predecessor.

Speaking to members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation at the Vatican today, the pontiff distinguishes sharply between “doctrine” and “indoctrination,” calling the latter “immoral.”

“Doctrine, as a serious, serene, and rigorous discourse, aims to teach us primarily how to approach problems and, even more importantly, how to approach people,” Pope Leo tells the foundation members. “Seriousness, rigor, and serenity are what we must learn from every doctrine, including the Church’s social doctrine.”

The American pope’s language appears to strike a different balance than his predecessor, who often criticized “rigorists” for their inflexibility. Leo instead reclaims and redefines rigor as a positive quality when paired with serenity and seriousness of purpose.

The pontiff emphasizes that doctrine and dialogue are not only compatible but also together provide for a “common, collective, and even multidisciplinary pursuit of truth.”

Pope Leo XIV’s formal installation as the 267th successor of St. Peter is set for Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m. Rome time in St. Peter’s Square. According to liturgical experts, the ceremony will include several deeply symbolic moments rooted in centuries of Church tradition.

The Mass will begin with the pope praying silently at the tomb of St. Peter, joined by Eastern Catholic patriarchs in a gesture of unity between East and West. During the liturgical procession to the outdoor altar, the ancient “Laudes Regiae” (“Royal Praises”) will be chanted — a solemn litany of saints dating back to Charlemagne’s era that underscores the theological truth that all earthly power comes from God.

Two key symbols will be formally presented to the new pontiff, explains Victoria Cardiel.

Eastern Christian communities erupted in celebration at the election of the Catholic Church’s new pontiff on May 8, but many wondered about Pope Leo XIV’s connection to the East.

Read the full story here.

Photos and videos shared on social media have sparked the admiration and affection of thousands of faithful, revealing a little-known period of Pope Leo XIV’s life as a missionary in Peru.

Read the full story here on ChurchPOP.