Catholic News Service

"We must dream of and build a more humble church," Pope Leo XIV said in his homily during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Oct. 26. The Mass marked the closing of the Oct. 24-26 Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies.

"States have the right and the duty to protect their borders, but this should be balanced by the moral obligation to provide refuge," Leo said. It's one of many "new" social ills he addressed in a major five-page speech.

Pope Leo XIV met with a coalition of survivors of abuse and victims' advocates for the first time at the Vatican Oct. 20.

 "How important it is to learn to talk to one another, to sit down, to learn to listen, to express your own ideas and your own values with respect for one another" so that others also feel they were heard, he said.

During a private audience with Pope Leo XIV, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva invited the pope to the upcoming U.N. Climate Change Conference, being held for the first time in the heart of the Amazon region.

Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 4 signed his first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te ("I Have Loved You"), which will be released Oct. 9.

The pilgrims — an archbishop, volunteer parish catechists, diocesan employees, religious sisters and two staff members from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — met with the pope Sept. 27 before his Jubilee audience.

In an overly frenetic world, the Gospel teaches the importance of stopping, resting and trusting in the Lord, Pope Leo XIV said.

As tens of thousands of Palestinians were fleeing their homes as Israel launched a major new ground offensive in Gaza City, Pope Leo XIV expressed his "profound closeness to the Palestinian people in Gaza."

Pain must never give rise to violence, and every Catholic needs to learn to safeguard with tenderness those who are vulnerable, Pope Leo XIV said during a prayer vigil dedicated to people experiencing pain and affliction due to illness, bereavement, violence or abuse.

The new diplomat served as president of CatholicVote, a right-leaning political advocacy organization, from 2008 until his nomination as ambassador.

Pope Leo XIV told 192 new bishops from around the world that they must respond promptly to allegations of inappropriate or abusive behavior by priests.

The fossil fuel, weapons and financial industries thrive on instability and cronyism, and they obstruct efforts toward climate justice and peace, top leaders of three Catholic networks said.

Crying out to God during moments of extreme trial does not mark a crisis of faith but can reflect an act of total surrender to and enduring trust in God, Pope Leo XIV said.

The "whole situation" in the Middle East "is very serious," Pope Leo XIV told reporters after Israel launched an attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar.

Pope Leo XIV offered his prayers for the dead after days of heavy rain triggered a landslide in a remote area of Sudan, and he prayed for all involved in the ongoing search and rescue operations.

In the video released by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, Leo recites his own prayer linking the 800th anniversary of the Canticle of Creation and the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home."

"We need an end to gun violence," St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in a statement.

Pope Leo XIV paid a private visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace of Mentorella, high in the Monti Prenestini mountain range of central Italy.

The luncheon for the poor was held in the Borgo Laudato Si', a project for education and training in integral ecology begun by Pope Francis in the gardens of the papal summer villa.