Pope Leo XIV again called for a stop to “the thunderous sound of bombs” in Iran and the Middle East, for the guns to “fall silent” and for the opening of “a space for dialogue” to find a way out of this latest conflict in the region.
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 appoints Archbishop Caccia as nuncio to the United States
Archbishop Caccia’s appointment comes at a turbulent time in world affairs, as the United States and Israel wage war against Iran—a conflict now in its eighth day that appears to be expanding.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo urges a halt to ‘spiral of violence’ across Iran and Middle East
Pope Leo prayed that “diplomacy may regain its role and promote the good of the peoples who yearn for a peaceful coexistence founded on justice.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo calls for ‘an immediate ceasefire’ to the war in Ukraine
“Let the weapons fall silent, let the bombings cease, let an immediate ceasefire be reached, and let dialogue be strengthened to pave the way toward peace,” he said.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo sends greetings for the Lunar New Year
Pope Leo XIV prayed that the Lunar Year celebrations may “strengthen family ties” and “bring peace to homes and society.”
Posted inFeatures
Behind the scenes of Pope Leo XIV’s election
America’s senior Vatican correspondent chronicles the moments leading to the first American pope.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Vatican holds firm after SSPX bishops’ ordination threats
In a highly significant move aimed at overcoming the more than 55-year division between the Priestly Society of St. Pius X and the Holy See, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, proposed “a specifically theological dialogue path, with a very precise methodology” to the SSPX to discuss “issues that have not yet been sufficiently clarified” between them.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
‘War is back in vogue,’ Pope Leo warns in major foreign policy speech
“War is back in vogue, and a zeal for war is spreading,” Pope Leo XIV said in a forceful address on Jan. 9 to ambassadors from the 184 countries that have full diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo says he will hold consistories with the College of Cardinals every year
Leo XIV clearly does not intend to go it alone as pope.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo in Christmas address to Vatican officials asks: ‘Is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia?’
Mindful that Pope Francis had often used the traditional pre-Christmas address to the Roman Curia to deliver some hard messages, Vatican officials had waited in expectation to see what Pope Leo would say.