In a significant appointment to the Roman Curia, Pope Leo has chosen the Spanish-born Augustinian bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, 64, to be the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, or papal almoner, and raised him to the rank of archbishop.
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 praises heroic action of priest killed by Israeli tank fire in Lebanon
Pope Leo called Father Pierre al-Rahi, who rushed to help parishioners wounded by Israeli fire, “a true shepherd, who always stayed beside his people, with the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd.”
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo calls for a stop to ‘the thunderous sound of bombs’ in the Middle East
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.
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.