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.
Vatican
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo picks Chicago-born Ronald Hicks to follow Dolan in New York
In naming Bishop Hicks for this high-profile post, Pope Leo chose a man whom he already knew; they met in 2024 when the then-Cardinal Robert Prevost gave a talk at a parish in the Joliet diocese.
Posted inNews
Church altar featuring homeless man goes on display near his grave at the Vatican
In 2018, German artist Michael Triegel asked a homeless man in Rome to pose for a drawing, thinking that he would make an ideal model for St. Peter if he ever needed to paint the first pope.
Posted inNews
Pope Leo and Israeli president speak by phone about Sydney attack, peace in Gaza
Pope Leo XIV and Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke by telephone Dec. 17, just days after a terrorist attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia led to the deaths of 15 people.
Posted inShort Take
The Vatican tabled women deacons again. Did they take women’s discernment seriously?
If the church approaches women’s discernment with condescension instead of curiosity, it risks undermining the process of synodality.
Posted inExplainer
Explainer: Everything you need to know about the Vatican’s women deacons report
The question of the women’s diaconate now returns to Pope Leo for further discernment.
Posted inPodcasts
The Vatican’s women deacons report, explained
Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell analyze the second study commission’s final report on women deacons: why its “no” still leaves the door open and what might be next for recognition of women’s ministries in the church.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
UPDATED: Pope Leo meets Ukraine’s Zelensky as European leaders discuss controversial U.S. peace plan
Pope Leo and President Volodymyr Zelensky met at a particularly delicate moment in the international effort to arrive at a peace plan that can be accepted by both Ukraine and Russia.
Posted inNews
Pope Leo attends Vatican Christmas concert for the poor featuring Catholic singer Michael Bublé
Christmas carols in every language and culture are expressions of how music can convey “feelings and emotions, even the deepest movements of the soul,” Pope Leo XIV said after listening, clapping and singing along at the Vatican Christmas concert with the poor.
Posted inNews
Pope Leo cancels Vatican fundraising commission announced under questionable circumstances
Pope Leo XIV has taken his biggest step yet to correct one of Pope Francis’ more problematic financial moves, canceling a special Holy See fundraising commission that was announced under questionable circumstances while Francis was hospitalized.