Giving Day:
Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during his weekly general audience May 6, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Mild-mannered Pope Leo prioritizes a prophetic message of unity and peace

Vatican

In his first year, Pope Leo XIV has sought to turn unity into the foundation for the church's advocacy on issues of peace and justice.

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Chris Herlinger

Editors' Choice

In this undated photo, Pope Leo XIV (then Robert Prevost, left) smiles while his mother (back to the camera) cuts a birthday cake in what his brother (right) guessed was the pope's ninth birthday, at the family home in the Chicago suburb of Dolton. (OSV News/Prevost family)

In Focus

The future Pope Leo XIV grew up amid a changing Chicago

Growing up in Chicago and then attending seminary in Michigan as a young teenager, Robert Prevost would have been aware of change taking place in both his hometown and the church.

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Most Read Stories

Father Robert P. Boxie III, chaplain at the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center at Howard University in Washington, and Father Gary R. Studniewski, pastor of Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Washington, are pictured in undated photos.

#1
Pope appoints two auxiliaries for Washington, accepts resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Campbell

Pope Leo XIV has appointed two auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Washington and accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr. of Washington.

ByOSV News
In this undated photo, Pope Leo XIV (then Robert Prevost, left) smiles while his mother (back to the camera) cuts a birthday cake in what his brother (right) guessed was the pope's ninth birthday, at the family home in the Chicago suburb of Dolton. (OSV News/Prevost family)

#2
The future Pope Leo XIV grew up amid a changing Chicago

Growing up in Chicago and then attending seminary in Michigan as a young teenager, Robert Prevost would have been aware of change taking place in both his hometown and the church.

ByRone Tempest

#3
Leo XIV is the US church's latest gift to Rome

The contribution of American Catholics to the development of the Holy See's ideas are noteworthy: religious liberty and organized labor, writes NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters.

ByMichael Sean Winters

#4
'Saved by the Beauty of the World' — and by the poetry of Mary Oliver

#5
Pope Leo to new priests: Keep church door open, don't be an obstacle

#6
Pope accepts resignation of West Virginia bishop, names Washington auxiliary as successor

Opinion

What Fr. Walter Ciszek's cause teaches us about sainthood

Guest Voices

Leo's Augustinian roots are what the church needs today

NCR Voices

3 Marian paintings that frame the past year in church history

Guest Voices

 "Just like the unexpected movement of these three works of art, the historic elections of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV have reflected surprising turns in the history of the church," Vanessa Corcoran writes. 

The divinization of Trump is precisely why the Church Fathers wrote the creeds

Guest Voices

Your letters: 'Mother Mary,' just war and Thomas Merton

Letters to the Editor
A pen-style illustration shows a person holding what appears to be a smartphone, as a gray bubble emits from the phone to the person's face, against an off-white background. (Unsplash/visuals)

The 7 deadly sins offer a warning to religious influencers — and their followers

Guest Voices

"The problem of social media is not merely religious but human, and because it is a human problem, the church, as an 'expert in humanity,' has ways of understanding and addressing it," writes Cathleen Kaveny.

Vatican

Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during his weekly general audience May 6, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Mild-mannered Pope Leo prioritizes a prophetic message of unity and peace

In his first year, Pope Leo XIV has sought to turn unity into the foundation for the church's advocacy on issues of peace and justice.

Pope Leo XIV expected in France this September for Lourdes, Paris visit

Ahead of the first anniversary of his election to the chair of St. Peter, it was announced that Pope Leo XIV is officially expected to visit France in late September, the French bishops' conference confirmed May 6.

ByOSV News
OPE LEO U.S. SECRETARY STATE MARCO RUBIO VATICAN VISIT Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio smile during a private audience at the Vatican May 7, 2026. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti Vatican Media)
Vatican News

Rubio meets Pope Leo as Trump attacks strain US-Vatican ties

Despite the vindictive language Trump has directed at the pope both online and in person in recent weeks, Rubio's meeting with Leo appeared amicable. 

ByJustin McLellan

Pope Leo XIV comforts 13 priests from southern Lebanon with a surprise video call from Rome

Pope Leo XIV surprised 13 priests from southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, by joining a video call from Rome on Wednesday, telling them they were in his prayers and that he hoped peace would soon prevail along the tense frontier.

ByBassem Mroue, Associated Press

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Vatican criticizes conversion therapy, features gay Catholic testimony in 'historic' report

What we knew then — and what we know now — about history's first US-born pope

Pope Leo XIV meets with Catholic Charities USA leadership, urges mission of compassion

EarthBeat

Joseph Sikulu, an activist from Tuvalu, talks during a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels, April 29, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia. (AP photo/Ivan Valencia)

Catholics see promise in climate talks among nations on fossil fuel phaseout

After conversations among nearly 60 nations on ways to wean the world from fossil fuels, Catholics who attended the first-of-its-kind summit in Colombia left encouraged by the promise the conversations represented.

Pope Leo XIV feeds fish at a pond in the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sept. 5, 2025. The pope inaugurated Borgo Laudato Si’ the same day, opening the historic papal residence as a center dedicated to the principles of care for creation and human dignity outlined in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Guest Voices

One year in, Pope Leo forges ahead with Francis' ecological legacy

Where Francis sounded the alarm, Leo has remained focused on what he calls ecological conversion: a transformation of heart and mind. 

ByChelsea Jordan King

Tribes sue to halt exploratory drilling in Black Hills near sacred ceremonial site

BySarah Raza, Associated Press
A cluster of large, romanesque buildings sits stop a verdant hill
Vatican News

4 asteroids just got named for Pope Leo XIII, Vatican astronomers

The Vatican Observatory announced in an April 29 press release that an asteroid has been named in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who formally reestablished the observatory in 1891.

ByGina Christian, OSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

An end to the fossil fuel era? Catholic groups hopeful as nations meet in Colombia

Indigenous coalition continues challenge to mining project on religious liberty grounds

At a Spanish convent, nuns breed rare giant rabbit

Culture

Conversion Therapy Dropout book cover

In ‘Conversion Therapy Dropout,’ a survivor exposes the discredited practice

'The biggest lesson I had to learn is that God's lack of an answer to my prayers to change me was an answer, because there was nothing about me that needed to change,' said Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez.

Praying with the spiritual masterwork of Pharoah Sanders

Over 55 years ago, legendary jazz musician Pharoah Sanders recorded a spiritualist masterwork that remains a critical piece of art in 2026.

ByMatthew A. MacDonald
Mary Oliver as a young woman, ca. 1965-1970 (Library of Congress/Mary Oliver Papers, Manuscript Division. ©NW Orchard LLC, used with permission of Bill Reichblum/Molly Malone Cook)

'Saved by the Beauty of the World' — and by the poetry of Mary Oliver

In the upcoming PBS documentary, "Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World," director Sasha Waters pays homage to one of America's most beloved modern poets.

ByElizabeth Hamilton
In A24's psychological thriller "Mother Mary," Anne Hathaway plays a fictional pop star with religious imagery. (A24)

'Mother Mary' film may have uncredited inspiration — and it's not the Mother of God

A24's thriller "Mother Mary" centers a fictional pop star with religious imagery. But electropop duo MOTHERMARY has been making music that centers religious iconography and queerness for years. They spoke to NCR about the film.

ByEmma Cieslik

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

I went to Augusta to watch the Masters. I came home with a spiritual experience.

Jason Berry reflects on journalism career in new book of interviews

Book Reviews

New book offers fresh perspective on work through a Catholic social teaching lens

Pope Leo XIV waves as he arrives to lead his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 29, 2026. (GSR graphic/Olivia Bardo; OSV News photo/Reuters/Remo Casilli)

After one year, nuns see Pope Leo XIV advancing justice in his own way

A year into Leo XIV's papacy, Catholic sisters around the world are celebrating how the first U.S.-born pope is continuing to focus on issues near and dear to them.

Sr. Gladys Dimaku, a Sister of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, draws on decades of pastoral, medical and intercultural experience to serve those most in need at St. Teresa Clinic in Lagos, Nigeria. (Courtesy of Gladys Dimaku)

Q&A with Sr. Gladys Dimaku, on the front lines of community healthcare in Lagos

Medical Missionaries of Mary Sr. Gladys Dimaku runs St. Teresa Clinic, a primary healthcare facility in Nigeria where patients receive preventive and curative care with special attention to HIV and tuberculosis.

ByValentine Benjamin
Pope Leo XIV meets with members of the board of Ending Clergy Abuse, a coalition of survivors and human rights advocates working to end clergy abuse, enforce accountability and promote justice and truth, during an audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Oct. 20, 2025. Also present is Pedro Salinas, a Peruvian journalist and abuse survivor. (CNS/Vatican Media)
Columns

Sister theologians on abuse, accountability, reform and hope in Leo's pontificate

To mark Pope Leo XIV's first year, Theologians' Corner convenes four sister theologians from around the world to reflect on his efforts to address abuse, strengthen accountability, and advance reform in the church.

By
Chilean flag with footprints walking across (GSR graphic/Olivia Bardo)

Nuns serve Haitians and Venezuelans in Chile as anti-migrant attitudes rise

As Chile's political and social attitudes harden against migration, Catholic sisters accompany Haitian and Venezuelan migrant camps in Curicó.

ByDavid Agren

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Suspect arrested for assault against French nun in Jerusalem

Learning about forgiveness in consecrated life

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