Carol Glatz

The first U.S.-born pope is very much looking forward to eventually visiting his native country even as he prepares to head to Latin America — his seventh papal trip abroad after his election a year and a half ago, the Vatican foreign minister said.

"The clock is ticking" for more than 100,000 Ukrainians whose temporary protections allowing them to live and work in the United States are set to expire Oct. 19, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia said.

"Indeed, singing and playing a musical instrument are acts of prayer," the pontiff said. "Music thus fosters our unity in praising God and opens our hearts to be fashioned by his grace."

The pontiff picked up on the same appeal Pope John Paul II made 44 years ago: to tirelessly bring forth a civilization born of truth and love in a world seriously threatened by selfishness and indifference to others' suffering.

As had been customary by his predecessors, Leo used his first general audience after his April 13-23 trip to four nations in Africa to tell people about the purpose of his visit and what struck him most about his travels.

Just as Mary Magdalene and the other women rushed to tell the disciples that Jesus is risen, "we too should desire to set out tonight from this basilica to bring to all the good news," the pope said.

Pope Leo XIV, who graduated from the lower school of St. Mary of the Assumption on the city's South Side in 1969, greeted and reminisced with 10 of his 82 former classmates after the general audience in St. Peter's Square March 18.

An authentic Christian community knows how to sincerely and joyfully welcome everyone: Catholics, non-Catholics and people of no faith at all, Pope Leo XIV said.

"They are our brothers and sisters, we love them, and we stand with them in these difficult times," Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon told Catholic News Service Feb. 11 during a visit to Rome and the Vatican, which included a private meeting with Pope Leo XIV Feb. 9.

The transmission of the faith is "a topic of great urgency," the pope said in remarks to members and officials of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and others participating in its plenary session at the Vatican Jan. 27-29.

Pope Leo XIV called for an end to all antisemitism, prejudice, oppression and persecution worldwide.

Algorithms designed to maximize engagement on social media can lock people into "bubbles" of easy consensus and rage, weakening people's ability to listen and think critically, and increasing polarization, the pope wrote in his message for the World Day of Communications.

All Christians are called to invite everyone to trust in Christ, who enlightens and consoles, Pope Leo XIV said.

If Christians are to speak about God, then they must dedicate time each day and week to listening to God's word in prayer and the liturgy, Pope Leo XIV said.

All power must be built on responsibility and service, Pope Leo XIV told local government leaders.

If people refuse to make room for others — like the poor, children and the stranger — then they also refuse to make room for God, Pope Leo XIV said as he celebrated the birth of Jesus.

Christian archaeology seeks to see, hear and touch the Word made flesh, Pope Leo XIV said in an apostolic letter, inviting bishops and others to encourage young people, laypeople and priests to study archaeology.

Meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Leo XIV reiterated the importance of dialogue and his hopes for a just and lasting peace in the region. The two leaders held their closed-door meeting in the morning at the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo, southeast of Rome; the meeting lasted about 30 minutes.

The Vatican reported that it ended 2024 with a 1.6-million-euro surplus ($1.85 million) compared to a deficit of 51.2 million euros ($59.3 million) in 2023.

"We must dream of and build a more humble church," Pope Leo XIV said in his homily during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Oct. 26. The Mass marked the closing of the Oct. 24-26 Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies.