The first U.S.-born pope on Tuesday tapped three experts from U.S. institutions to advise the Catholic Church's central office dedicated to promoting social justice. All three are affiliated with the University of Notre Dame.
As prominent prelates clash over the traditional Latin Mass, Pope Leo XIV's response may reveal his deepest instincts about authority, unity and tradition.
On Christmas Eve 1963, Ernest Simoni,, then a young priest, was arrested by the communist regime of Enver Hoxha after offering a Mass for the soul of assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
Smith, 79, was in Rome to perform a show in the city's Circus Maximus on July 27. Although she does not consider herself Catholic, the rock legend wore a Franciscan Tau cross during her audience with the pope.
"Pope Leo is not going to change Traditionis Custodes," said Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in an interview with The Tablet published July 29.
After July 29's "Concert for Peace," NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas asked the pontiff about the importance of being American. "I think of myself more as the pope who happens to be American," he responded.
As Pope Leo XIV continues to rearrange Vatican personnel, his appointment of San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone on July 25 to the microstate's highest court was yet another eye-catching move.
Pope Leo XIV offered prayers as firefighters continue to battle massive wildfires in Spain and France that have forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate from their homes.
