Four hundred years after its consecration, St. Peter’s Basilica is getting a 21st-century upgrade, with the Vatican unveiling plans for AI-powered translation services, expanded pilgrim access and high-tech structural monitoring as part of yearlong anniversary celebrations.
Pope Leo XIV prayed with the sick at the Lourdes grotto in the Vatican Gardens on Feb. 11, asking Our Lady of Lourdes to accompany all those who suffer in the world.
The Vatican press office confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has no plans to visit the U.S. this year.
Pope Leo XIV has added the feast day of St. John Henry Newman, who is “a radiant light for the Church on pilgrimage through history,” to the General Roman Calendar so that “his Optional Memorial be celebrated by all on 9 October.”
The Vatican has completed the official mosaic portrait of Pope Leo XIV, continuing a centuries-old tradition that marks the election of each new pontiff.
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado asked for Pope Leo XIV’s help in securing the release of political prisoners in the country following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Just as we wouldn’t leave newborns without clothes or food, we cannot leave them without faith and baptism, Pope Leo XIV told parents of children he baptized in the Sistine Chapel Jan. 11.
Cardinals leave Pope Leo XIV’s first extraordinary consistory with renewed unity and a clear vision for “a Church that cares,” marked by fraternity, listening, and a synodal path forward.
For the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics and for millions of other people as well, the Catholic Church’s 2025 was primarily about the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV.
Canadian crooner Michael Bublé took to Instagram Dec. 10 to reflect on his time there, which included a meeting with Pope Leo XIV.
