Both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV on May 18, the vice president’s office said.

Amid immigration raids and emptying pews, the Nashville diocese is reminding faithful that they are not required to attend Mass if they fear for their well-being, according to the church’s own teaching and canon law.

Pope Leo is an avid tennis player and fan and had said earlier this week that he would be up for a charity match when it was suggested by a journalist. But, Leo joked, “we can’t invite Sinner.”

“I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X.

Pope Leo XIV’s devotion to St. Augustine, his life and ministry as a member of the Augustinian order and his focus on the unity of the church are reflected in his episcopal motto and coat of arms.

In a letter to Rabbi Noam Marans of the American Jewish Committee, Pope Leo XIV expressed his intention to strengthen Catholic-Jewish relations.