Leo XIV Permits Latin Mass in Vatican

 

A few thousand pilgrims packed St. Peter's Basilica as Cardinal Raymond Burke celebrated a traditional Latin Mass with the explicit permission of Pope Leo XIV, a moment that thrilled Catholics who felt sidelined by Pope Francis's 2021 restrictions. Families with children filled the standing-room-only aisles amid incense, hymn, and bowed...

Pope Leo XIV Denounces New Injustices, Inequality

 

Meeting participants of the Fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV invoked Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum to denounce “new” injustices. He put the poor at the center, urging movements born on the peripheries to act with love and confront inequality, exclusion, and “bad management.” He...

Archbishop Stephen Wood Accused of Misconduct

 

Archbishop Stephen Wood, the highest-ranking prelate of the Anglican Church in North America, has been formally accused by former employees of sexual harassment, plagiarism and bullying, amid continuing turmoil in the small denomination. In a document submitted Monday, former staff member Claire Buxton alleges Wood gave her an "intimate" hug,...

King Prays With Pope Leo XIV

 

On a swift Vatican visit, the King and Queen prayed with Pope Leo XIV in the Sistine Chapel, marking the first public prayer between a Church of England head and a Pope, then moved to St Paul’s Outside the Walls. In the basilica, the abbot led prayers and the King...

Pope Leo XIV Canonizes Venezuela’s First Saint

 

Pope Leo XIV canonized Venezuela’s “doctor of the poor,” José Gregorio Hernández, before about 70,000 at St. Peter’s Square, giving the country its first saint as thousands of Venezuelans waved flags in Rome and watched from Caracas. Mother Carmen Rendiles Martínez was also declared a saint. The Mass, a seven-person...

Pope Leo XIV Condemns Usury as Grave Sin

 

Addressing Italy’s National Anti-Usury Council, Pope Leo XIV condemned usury as a grave sin and “corruption of the human heart,” thanking the group for three decades of aid to victims. He warned that usury—often masquerading as help—strangles the poor, especially those already fragile, and can drive despair. Extending his critique...

King Charles, Pope Leo to Pray Together

 

King Charles and Pope Leo will pray together in the Sistine Chapel next week, the first such moment between a British monarch and a pontiff since the Reformation. During a two-day state visit to the Vatican, the King and Queen will attend meetings and an ecumenical service beneath Michelangelo’s ceiling,...

Zion Church Pastor, Dozens Arrested in China

 

China arrested Ezra Jin, founder of the unregistered Zion Church, and more than 30 pastors and staff in a sweeping crackdown, relatives and church leaders told NPR. Jin was detained at his home in Beihai, Guangxi; some detainees face charges such as “illegal dissemination of religious information via the internet.”...

Pope Leo XIV Highlights Hermits’ Contemplative Witness

 

Meeting Italian hermits on 11 October in the Consistory Hall, Pope Leo XIV urged a renewed 'call to interiority and silence' in an age of media-driven alienation. The hermit vocation, he said, shows the beauty of contemplation—not escape, but regeneration that fuels listening and charity. Thanking them for their presence...

Pope Leo XIV Places Poor at Church's Heart

 

Pope Leo XIV has declared the poor central to Catholic teaching, urging bishops globally to champion social justice and protect the vulnerable, including migrants. In his first official document, "Dilexi te," he emphasizes the Church's role as a nurturing mother, building bridges where others erect walls. He calls on Christians...