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Author: Hannah Brockhaus
New recruits to the Pontifical Swiss Guard learn the Monadnock Defensive Tactical System in order to swiftly and discretely stop potential security threats. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Pontifical Swiss Guard

Under the eyes of social media, Swiss Guards learn to handle threats with discretion

Recruits to the Vatican force go through rigorous physical and mental training in order to protect the pope.
Sister Mary Barron, OLA, president of the Pontifical Mission Societies and adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization starting Jan. 4, 2027, speaks to EWTN News in Rome on Oct. 19, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

New Vatican official says men and women are ‘in this together as witnesses to God’

In an interview with EWTN News, Sister Mary Teresa Barron, OLA, spoke about her new role supporting the
Pope Leo XIV, bishops, and lay experts participate in the first day of a Vatican meeting on “Amoris Laetitia” in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Oct. 7, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican meeting on the family ends inconclusively amid Pope Leo’s hospitalization

The pontiff said this week he would offer his reflections on the Amoris Laetitia gathering “in due course.”
Pope Leo XIV participates in the opening prayer for a weeklong meeting of bishops on the family in light of the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, on Oct. 7, 2026, in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. | Credit: Vatican Media

‘Amoris Laetitia’ is consistent with Church teaching, sister tells pope and bishops

VATICAN CITY — Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic exhortation on the family, is consistent with the Church

Pope Leo on AI art: Beyond aesthetics, ‘there is an ontological difference’

The pontiff said the Catholic Church wishes to renew its alliance with artists. VATICAN CITY — There is

Disabled child’s papal blessing in Lourdes gives family ‘strength and hope’

Pope Leo XIV blessed Olivia Hamelin, a 3-year-old with a rare genetic condition, during his visit to Lourdes,
Pope Leo XIV speaks to reporters on his flight from Metz, France, to Rome on Sept. 28, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Pope Leo says he is not ‘in panic mode’ over AI dangers

In a 23-minute in-flight news conference, the pontiff also answered questions about end-of-life issues and sexual abuse. ABOARD
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass at the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Metz, France, on Sept. 28, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Pope Leo: Let Europe’s wounds be ‘openings through which light shines’

A Mass in Metz was the final event of the pontiff’s Sept. 25–28 trip to France. METZ, France
Pope Leo XIV delivers his remarks at an interreligious meeting at the Robert Schuman Conference Center in Metz, France, on Sept. 28, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Pope Leo: Europe must return to its Christian roots and be open to migrants

The final day of the pontiff’s visit to France focused on peace and unity in Europe. METZ, France
Pope Leo XIV looks at a memorial dedicated to victims of clerical sexual abuse in Lourdes, France, on Sept. 27, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo meets French abuse victims in Lourdes

The pontiff “expressed his solidarity with them and, through them, with all those who have suffered and continue
Pope Leo XIV addresses the staff and sick community of Accueil Notre Dame in Lourdes, France, on Sept. 27, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Killing the sick is ‘false compassion,’ pope says in Lourdes

In a speech to sick people and caregivers, the pope denounced France’s recent legalization of euthanasia and assisted
Pope Leo XIV reads his homily during Mass at the Prairie of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, France, on Sept. 27, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Pope Leo in Lourdes: The Church must heal her ‘wounds, infidelities, and painful errors’

The pontiff spoke about the urgency of repentance and conversion at a Mass on the third day of
Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd — estimated at more than 800,000 — at his open-air Mass on Sept. 26, 2026, in Paris. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV in Paris: No one ‘is merely a number’

An estimated 800,000 people attended the pontiff’s open-air Mass. PARIS — Pope Leo XIV told his congregation at
A participant takes a video recording of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the Institut Catholique de Paris on Sept. 26, 2026. The pope met with members of the provincial Synodal Assembly, catechumens, and the newly baptized. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Pope addresses ‘surprising’ Catholic growth in secular France

Leo met members of a Church assembly examining a decade-long rise in Catholic baptisms. PARIS — Pope Leo
Pope Leo XIV prays with the staff and volunteers of the Maison Bakhita Center for Social Support and Integration in Paris, France, during his visit on Sept. 26, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo hears testimony of migrants in Paris: God opened ‘a new path for me’

Leo visited a center offering support and integration to immigrants in the Archdiocese of Paris, on the second
About 80,000 young people greet Pope Leo XIV at the Stade de France on Sept. 25, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Thousands of young French Catholics converge on soccer stadium for prayer with Pope Leo: “Army of Saints”

France’s Catholic culture and the energy of the country’s young people stole the show at a prayer vigil
Pope Leo XIV addresses the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris on Sept. 25, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Pope Leo XIV warns of ’corruption of culture’ in the age of AI

The pontiff said AI “cannot answer questions that concern the meaning of human life, which is rooted in
Pope Leo XIV with French President Emmanuel Macron, at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Sept. 25, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News/Vatican Pool

Pope Leo XIV, in France, says protection of life a duty for everyone

The pontiff denounced the use of science and technology for profit instead of moral and ethical human progress.
Pope Leo XIV waves as he boards the plane ITA Airways A321, as he departed Rome to begin his apostolic journey to France on Sept. 25, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV arrives in Paris at start of 4-day visit to France

The pontiff is expected to proclaim Catholic social teaching to a secular country showing signs of Christian revival.
Mosaics by Marko Rupnik on the façade of the Basilica of the Rosary at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes have been covered with banners ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to France in September 2026. | Credit: Pierre Vincent/Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

Pope’s Lourdes visit to highlight Church’s response to abuse

At the shrine famous for its healing waters, Pope Leo XIV will meet with sex-abuse victims and address
French President Emmanuel Macron presents Pope Leo XIV with a French national basketball team jersey during an audience on April 10, 2026, at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV, in France, will bring Catholic social teaching to a secular Europe

During his Sept. 25–28 visit to Paris, Lourdes, and Metz, Leo’s approach to sharing the Catholic Church’s teaching
Vatican Gardens. Credit: EWTN Vatican

Inside Look at the Vatican Gardens

Half of Vatican City is green, and behind its walls, a team of gardeners and forestry experts is
The Vatican vegetable garden, almost a tenth of an acre of cultivable soil, is now maintained with 100% organic agricultural practices. | Credit: Governorate of Vatican City State

Vatican vegetable garden goes 100% organic

The move to biological farming techniques has been underway for several years in response to Pope Francis’ 2015
Pope Leo XIV speaks on Sept. 6, 2026, during the weekly Angelus prayer he leads from a window of the apostolic palace. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo appoints coadjutor bishop for Puerto Rico’s youngest diocese

A coadjutor bishop serves alongside the current diocesan bishop and succeeds him after his retirement. Pope Leo XIV

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