“Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
Gerard O’Connell
Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo to Cameroon’s leaders: Break the ‘chains of corruption,’ invest in young people
In a speech that seemed targeted at those in positions of power, Pope Leo said that “serving one’s country means dedicating oneself, with a clear mind and an upright conscience, to the common good of all people in the nation.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo on plane to Cameroon: St. Augustine invites us to search for God and truth
On the five-hour flight from Algiers to Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, Pope Leo, looking relaxed and in good spirits, spoke for about 10 minutes to the press corps about his visit to Algeria, which he described as “a very blessed trip.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo walks in the footsteps of St. Augustine in Hippo
On his second day in Algeria, Leo XIV, the first Augustinian pope, visited the archaeological site of ancient Hippo, modern-day Annaba, where once stood the church—“the Basilica of Peace”—where St. Augustine was bishop for 34 years.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo in Algeria: ‘The future belongs to men and women of peace’
“The true struggle for liberation will be definitively won only when peace in our hearts has finally been achieved,” Leo said upon his arrival in Algeria.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo’s first trip to Africa: what you need to know
Pope Leo sets out on a 10-day visit to Africa on April 13. He will visit four countries: Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Interview: What Pope Leo’s visit means for Algeria’s tiny Catholic population
“The emphasis is less on the church itself and more on what the visit represents for the country: a gesture of peace, dialogue and international recognition,” Algeria’s Bishop Diego Sarrió Cucarella said in an interview.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo: Trump’s threat to destroy Iran ‘truly unacceptable’
Speaking in English, Leo called on the citizens of the countries involved “to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen—to ask them, tell them, to work for peace and to reject war always.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo’s first Easter ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message: ‘Let those who have weapons lay them down’
In his first Easter message to the city of Rome and to the world, “Urbi et Orbi,” Pope Leo invited everyone to join him in “a prayer vigil for peace” in St. Peter’s Basilica, next Saturday, April 11.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
The meditations at Pope Leo’s first Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum: Connecting Christ’s Passion to modern suffering
30,000 pilgrims from all continents were present for this profoundly spiritual event which Pope Paul VI revived in 1965 but which goes back to the early centuries of Christianity when pilgrims went to Jerusalem to retrace the path of Jesus to his crucifixion and burial.