Pope Leo XIV addresses journalists during the flight heading to Algiers on April 13, 2026. Pope Leo XIV embarks on April 13 on an 11-day visit to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea for his first major international trip since becoming pontiff in May 2025. (OSV News/Alberto Pizzoli, Reuters)
Vatican News

Pope Leo says he has 'no fear' of Trump administration after attack from president

Vatican

Pope Leo XIV told reporters en route to Algeria that he has "no fear of the Trump administration," hours after President Donald Trump lodged a vicious attack on the pontiff via social media.

The Latest

Catholic sisters sue for exemption to LGBTQ+ rights law in NY nursing homes

Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Religion News Service

Indiana bishops put Eucharist at center of call to 'integral ecology' in new pastoral

Gina Christian, OSV News

Lebanese Christians mourn rising death toll as war shatters communities, hope

Dale Gavlak, OSV News

Editors' Choice

A Catholic worshipper kneels before a crucifix on Easter April 5, 2026, outside the Cathedral of St. Anne in Yagoua, Cameroon. (OSV News/Reuters/Desire Danga)

In Focus

Among Pope Leo's Africa destinations are targets of USAID cuts

Of the four nations Pope Leo XIV will visit during his trip to Africa, Cameroon and Angola have been particularly impacted by the cuts to USAID operations which began at the start of President Trump's second term.

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Detail of an icon of St. Augustine at Christ the King Cathedral in Superior Wis. (OSV News/The Crosiers/Gene Plaisted)

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St. Augustine is key to the difference between Pete Hegseth and Pope Leo

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Pope Leo is not traveling to bring hope to Africa, but to find hope

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Activists protest near the White House in Washington April 7. Earlier in the day President Donald Trump had doubled down on threats to annihilate Iran. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

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On the holiest day of Christianity, the U.S. president threatened to annihilate a civilization. That is corporate evil.

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"His kingdom has come, but it is not yet here in its fullness," writes NCR's Michael Sean Winters. "This is the essential tension of the Christian life."

Vatican

Pope Leo XIV addresses journalists during the flight heading to Algiers on April 13, 2026. Pope Leo XIV embarks on April 13 on an 11-day visit to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea for his first major international trip since becoming pontiff in May 2025. (OSV News/Alberto Pizzoli, Reuters)
Vatican News

Pope Leo says he has 'no fear' of Trump administration after attack from president

Pope Leo XIV told reporters en route to Algeria that he has "no fear of the Trump administration," hours after President Donald Trump lodged a vicious attack on the pontiff via social media.

'Cease fire' Pope Leo asks world leaders as he expresses closeness to Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine

Pope Leo XIV is renewing urgent calls for peace, following a powerful April 11 prayer vigil where he warned that "war divides," "arrogance tramples," and only God's truth can enlighten hearts. Speaking at the Regina Caeli on April 12, he expressed deep solidarity with people suffering in conflict zones, especially Lebanon and Sudan.

ByPaulina Guzik, OSV News
Pope Leo XIV leads a vigil for peace inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 11. After praying the rosary, Leo addressed world leaders in his call for peace. (AP/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo issues fiery plea for peace at prayer vigil: 'Enough of war!'

Pontiff tells world leaders: "Stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation, not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided!" 

ByJustin McLellan
Pope Leo XIV attends the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Catholic Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2026 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A country-by-country glance at Pope Leo's trip to Africa

Pope Leo XIV’s four-nation, 11-day trip to Africa is so dizzying in its complexity it recalls some of the globetrotting odysseys of St. John Paul II in his early years. Themes Leo is expected to raise include Christian-Muslim coexistence, the over-exploitation of the region's natural and human resources, corruption and migration.

ByThe Associated Press

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EarthBeat

Indiana bishops put Eucharist at center of call to 'integral ecology' in new pastoral

The letter was commended by Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, who extended Pope Leo XIV's blessing to the bishops.

Sr. Rose Nyondo, the program director for the Community Transformation Programme, and project coordinator Sr. Matilda Mubanga. The program, run by the Daughters of the Redeemer, promotes agricultural productivity in Chibombo and other areas in Zambia. (Derrick Silimina)

Daughters of the Redeemer pilot 'climate-smart' agricultural program in Zambia

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Green Climate Fund partnership opens access to millions for Catholic Relief Services

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When improving access to water, local leadership is essential. Communities in Walungu Territory in South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, form water committees to manage and maintain sources. Women play central roles — because they understand water needs best. (Courtesy of Namulisa Balaluka Rose)
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When water is far away, hope must walk with it

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Natacha Karam and Minnie Driver as Hagar and Sarah in "The Faithful: Women of the Bible" (Fox)

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Right: Private First Class Sarah Keys in uniform in the 1950s (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Army). Left: A postcard of the bus terminal in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., where Keys refused to give up her seat to a white Marine on an interstate bus. (Wikimedia Commons/State Archives of North Carolina).

The Black Catholic woman whose defiance on a bus predated Rosa Parks' action

NCR Book Club: Riding Into History details Sarah Keys Evans' fateful bus ride from New Jersey to North Carolina in 1952 that led to the Interstate Commerce Commission's rejection of segregation on interstate bus travel.

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Rob Gardner conducts a past performance of "Lamb of God," his concert work about Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. (Courtesy of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

In New York City, the Passion comes to the Metropolitan Opera

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Sr. Rose Nyondo, the program director for the Community Transformation Programme, and project coordinator Sr. Matilda Mubanga. The program, run by the Daughters of the Redeemer, promotes agricultural productivity in Chibombo and other areas in Zambia. (Derrick Silimina)

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