The global pope-apalooza continued in January as Pope Francis was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and in “superpope” graffiti that sprouted up on buildings around Vatican City. • It was announced on Jan. 27 that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Melkite Archbishop Elias Chacour of Haifa, Israel, as he contends with allegations of sexual harassment. • Following two Boko Haram attacks in January that killed 70 people, Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza of Yola, Nigeria, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to give military service chiefs the constitutional support they need to flush out the militants. • Pope Francis has chosen the theme, “He became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich,” from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, for this year’s Lenten message, according to a Vatican statement on Jan. 31. • Bishops from the Church of England approved on Jan. 27 the start of “facilitated conversations” on sexuality, following an internal report recommending that gay couples should be permitted to celebrate their relationships in church. • In a statement released on Jan. 25, the leaders of the Christian churches in Iraq requested that Iraqi legislators explicitly guarantee to all adult citizens the right to freely choose their religion.
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Pope Leo XIV urged new archbishops to help him foster unity in a church rich in diversity. Eight of those new archbishops are from the United States, and they spoke to Catholic News Service about how they can help promote fraternity in today’s polarized world.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley chat with Christopher White about his new book, ‘Pope Leo XVI: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.’
Kerry Weber is an executive editor for America. On May 20, 2025, the Catholic Media Association announced that she was elected president,
"The whole church needs fraternity, which must be present in all of our relationships, whether between lay people and priests, priests and bishops, bishops and the pope," he said during his homily at Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29.