The Vatican stated Thursday that during “cordial discussions” this morning between Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio “the common commitment to cultivating good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America was renewed.”
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
Trump attacks Pope Leo again ahead of Marco Rubio’s Vatican visit
President Trump publicly attacked Pope Leo again on May 5, alleging that “he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people” and falsely claiming yet again that for the pontiff, “it’s O.K. for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo encourages Catholic Charities USA to continue work amid political turbulence
Alluding to the current turbulent political, social and economic situation in his homeland, Pope Leo said, “I am fully aware that the Catholic Charities agencies in the United States of America are by no means immune from these challenges that continue to manifest themselves in our own day.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Interview: Pope Leo’s visit invites renewed faith and peaceful coexistence in Angola
The Jesuit superior in Angola reflects on Pope Leo’s message of peace to a country still scarred by 27 years of civil war.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Interview: Jesuit provincial on what Pope Leo’s visit meant for Cameroon
“Pope Leo is widely seen in Cameroon as a deeply inspiring and unifying spiritual leader, whose presence evokes strong emotional and religious fervor among the faithful,” Jean Luc Enyegue, S.J., the superior provincial of the Jesuits in 10 French-speaking countries of West Africa, said.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo speaks on same-sex blessings, migration and more on plane back to Rome
Pope Leo said “the unity or division of the church should not revolve around sexual matters,” and that we must not treat migrants “worse than animals, as often happens.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Asked about regime change in Iran, Pope Leo says, ‘I cannot be in favor of war.’
“The question is not whether there is regime change or no regime change; the question is how to promote the values in which we believe without the death of so many innocent people.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo calls on leaders to ‘bridge the gap’ between poor and rich in Equatorial Guinea
On the second day of his visit to Equatorial Guinea, a predominantly Catholic country of 1.8 million people in central Africa, Pope Leo XIV issued an unequivocal call to authorities “to serve the common good rather than private interests, bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo remembers ‘the great gift’ of Pope Francis on the first anniversary of his death
Pope Francis “has given so much to the church, with his life, his witness, his words and his gestures,” Pope Leo said on the plane from Angola to Equatorial Guinea.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo tells Angola’s Catholic leaders: ‘Never cease to denounce injustices.’
On the evening of his last full day in Angola, Pope Leo XIV told the leadership of the Catholic Church in this predominantly Christian country, “Your loyalty to Angola—as it should be throughout the world—is today particularly linked to the proclamation of peace.”