Nicole Winfield

Past popes have apologized for the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but none have publicly acknowledged the role their predecessors played in giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave "infidels."

Leo believes the AI revolution poses the same existential questions that the Industrial Revolution posed over a century ago.

The Vatican is sending new signals about how it intends to minister to LGBTQ+ Catholics in the Pope Leo XIV era, with signs of openness and limitations after Pope Francis ushered in a notable welcome during his 12-year pontificate.

Leo has made some significant decisions so far, and has several challenges looming.

Vatican prosecutors on Thursday seemingly defied an appeals court order to turn over to the defense all the evidence gathered in the Vatican’s big financial trial, setting the stage for another clash in the long-running case.

Pope Leo XIV prayed Monday in the Vatican with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, and vowed to keep working to overcome differences "no matter how intractable they may appear," in a historic meeting with the first female leader of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion.

Pope Leo XIV told inmates at one of Equatorial Guinea's notorious prisons on Wednesday that they are not alone, as he delivered a message of hope during a visit that drew attention to prison conditions, human rights abuses and injustices that campaigners have denounced for years here.

The Vatican released on Monday details of Pope Leo XIV's upcoming four-nation Africa tour, suggesting Christian-Muslim relations, comforting victims of violence and encouraging the Catholic community in former European colonies will be key themes.

Pope Leo XIV demanded a ceasefire in the Middle East on Sunday in his strongest comments to date, directly addressing the leaders who launched the war in Iran.

The move and the consolidation of Leo's team suggest a new chapter is opening as his pontificate nears the one-year mark.

An early donor to the political career of Vice President JD Vance, Peter Thiel is also deeply interested in the apocalyptic concept of the Antichrist and has written and lectured on it before.

The patriarch of one of the most important Christian churches in the Middle East retired on Tuesday, setting the stage for new leadership as war engulfs the region.

The bones of St. Francis of Assisi went on public display for the first time Sunday, capping an 800-year saga over his bodily remains and confirming the enduring appeal to Christians of venerating a saint's relics.

The Vatican is marking the 400th anniversary of the consecration of St. Peter's Basilica with a host of visitor-friendly initiatives, including expanding access to its spectacular terrace and its snack bar in the shadow of Michelangelo's great dome.

The Vatican released Leo's agenda for day trips to a half-dozen Italian cities over the next six months. The Vatican has rarely released such plans together and so far in advance, but word of the visits was starting to filter out.

Pope Urban VIII "immediately realized that Bernini could become the Michelangelo of his century," the exhibit's co-curator Andrea Bacchi said.

In a message titled "Life in Abundance" issued on the same day as the Milan Cortina opening ceremony, Pope Leo XIV traced the history of Christian philosophers and popes who had identified sports and leisure activity as beneficial for both physical and spiritual development.

Spain's Catholic bishops agreed Thursday to let the Spanish government's ombudsman have the final say in the church's compensation of victims of sexual abuse by clergy members who have died or whose possible crimes are too old to be prosecuted.

A day after closing out the 2025 Holy Year, Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday opened a new phase of his pontificate by gathering the world's cardinals to Rome and indicating some reform-minded priorities going forward.

Pope Leo XIV opened 2026 on Thursday with a plea for peace, singling out in particular countries "bloodied by conflict" and families wounded by violence.