South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier this week said the Catholic Church can lead in helping overcome decades of apartheid and racial divide that continue to dominate life in his country.

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.

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.

“Godfather, we love you! Long live the Pope!” exclaimed Mildred Camacho, recalling how Father Robert Prevost, once a young priest in Chulucanas, Peru, is now Pope Leo XIV.

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.

The official website of the Vatican for the first time has been refreshed since it was created in the 1990s, prominently featuring multimedia content and online links to other Vatican offices and ministries.

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.

Starting on July 8, no parish churches will be permitted to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass in the diocese, Bishop Martin said.

In a private audience with Pope Leo XIV on May 16, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, invited the Pope to visit Ukraine to bring comfort to a people worn down by war.

Before various civil and military officials, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the spiritual and social dimensions of his episcopal mission, before taking possession of St. John Lateran.

After blessing the faithful, he entered the chapel that houses the Marian icon, traditionally attributed to St. Luke, and, kneeling, prayed for a few minutes before placing a bouquet of flowers at the feet of the Blessed Mother’s image.

The leadership of the European bishops’ conference said 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.

Cardinal William Goh, the archbishop of Singapore, said he hopes for greater doctrinal clarity from Pope Leo XIV, addressing also the issue of traditional liturgy.

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.

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

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.

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 and remains dear to Pope Leo XIV.

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.

The undersecretary of the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, the Spanish Augustinian Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, is among those who have collaborated most closely with Pope Leo XIV.

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.

Pope Leo XIV in the first general audience of his pontificate on Wednesday appealed for an end to hostilities in Gaza and for the entrance of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

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.

Many Catholics may wonder who Pope Leo XIV’s favorite saint is. A close Peruvian missionary friend says he knows—revealing the pope’s little-known devotion to a saint he once prayed to on his knees in a chapel near Chiclayo, Peru.

Monsignor Humberto González is a member of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (PCAL, by its Spanish acronym), where he served alongside Cardinal Robert Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV — who was president of the organization since 2023.