David Agren

"La grieta" or the crack, splits Argentina politically into Peronist and non-Peronist camps. It's surfaced as local media obsess over which politicians were invited from Leo's upcoming visit to the president's office. 

Days before Pope Leo XIV announced that he would undergo surgery at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, the Mexican bishops' conference presented him with a book documenting the cases of people who have gone missing in the country.

A priest in Ecuador was struck and killed by a falling crucifix while celebrating Mass, a tragedy captured during a livestream of the service on Oct. 17.

Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva of Buenos Aires pleaded for unity, describing the country as wounded and deeply divided ahead of a visit to Argentina by Pope Leo XIV.

The 45.9-foot-tall statue of Leo will grace a seafront park overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Callao, located in the northern suburbs of Lima, the national capital.

Another Nicaraguan bishop remains missing after being apprehended by police, drawing a rebuke from the United States for the ongoing "attacks on religious freedom" in the increasingly authoritarian country.

Mexican soccer fans have prayed for World Cup success at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City, where the faithful dressed a Christ Child in the country's official soccer kit.

The Uruguayan bishops' conference said in a May 21 statement that no date had been set for a visit to South America, though sources say a papal trip would likely occur in November or December during the Southern Hemisphere spring.

Bolivia's Catholic bishops appealed for dialogue and "humanitarian pauses" during disruptive protests, which have collapsed the highlands of the Andean country and threatened the administration of President Rodrigo Paz. 

Ordinations of priests and deacons have been halted in four Nicaraguan dioceses, aggravating a shortage of priests as the Sandinista regime continues its suffocation of the Catholic Church.

"It pains us to see buildings and iconic areas mistreated and they shouldn't be," Archbishop Jorge Alberto Cavazos Arizpe of San Luis Potosí told local media. "But, as Jesus said, an offense against a person, however small, will always be much more serious. And women have been very mistreated. … That's why they continue to speak out about something that keeps happening."

"I'm worried about the tone of the country, because it goes far beyond the campaign," Cardinal Fernando Chomali of Santiago said after meeting candidates prior to the first round of voting in November. "I'm worried about the tone on social media, I'm worried about the tone in the streets."

Pope Leo XIV has called for dialogue and peace in Venezuela as the United States amps up pressure on the South American country — where relations between the socialist regime and Catholic officials have become tense.

The Mexican bishops' conference has condemned the murder of a mayor, who was assassinated after pleading for federal assistance in combating drug cartels — which extort avocado growers in his municipality in western Michoacán state.

Bolivia has elected Rodrigo Paz as president, picking a centrist politician with a history of amicable church ties.

The body of Fr. Bertoldo Pantaleón Estrada was discovered Oct. 6 in the municipality of Mezcal in Guerrero state, some 150 miles south of Mexico City, according to the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa.

"He was the most consistent voice after the death of the Jesuits," said Juan Melendez, country director for the Netherlands Institute of Multiparty Democracy.

Attacks on the Catholic Church in Nicaragua have fallen in 2025, but a report on church persecution in the Central American county attributes the decline to few priests and religious reporting the crimes and harassment committed against them and church property.

Nicaragua's ruling Sandinista regime has seized a prominent Catholic school, claiming without proof that it had operated a "torture" center during past protests and renaming the education facility for a slain partisan.

Twenty days into his papacy, Pope Leo XIV’s appointment style remains largely unknown — but his years leading the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, may offer clues. There, he prioritized lay leadership, promoted synodality and worked across ecclesial factions.