January 13, 2026

Catholic Watch

BREAKING: Pope Leo appoints bishop who celebrated LGBT Mass with drag queen speaker– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser December 17, 2025

Blurb:

Pope Leo XIV has appointed a San Diego auxiliary bishop who celebrated an “All are Welcome” LGBT “Pride” Mass – during which a drag queen activist was permitted to speak – as the new bishop of Monterey, California. 

Bishop Ramón Bejarano was the celebrant of the July 13 Sunday Mass, which was organized by St. John’s “LGBTQ Ministry” and had the full backing of the Diocese of San Diego under Bishop Michael Pham, one of Pope Leo XIV’s first episcopal appointments.

“I apologize for the pain and distress that I and the Church have caused to many of you,” Bishop Bejarano reportedly said in a 2024 “All are Welcome Mass” sermon at the same parish. “I apologize for the stigmatization and trauma we have caused to others because we have told them that they are not valued and that they are not worthy of the love of God. There are many others out there who feel rejected and unvalued.” 

Bejarano was also among the 68 American bishops who in 2021 signed a letter asking the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to end discussions on prohibiting then-President Joe Biden and other pro-abortion Catholic politicians from receiving Holy Communion.

Pope Leo urges Christians to ‘be less fearful’ of Islam, encourages ‘dialogue’ with Muslims– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser December 12, 2025

Blurb:

Pope Leo XIV has spoken warmly about the relationship between Muslims and Christians and downplaying fears of Islamization.

During his recent international trip to Turkey and Lebanon, the Pope gave a speech at an interfaith meeting held at Martyrs’ Square in Beirut.

“Dear friends, your presence here today, in this extraordinary place where minarets and bell towers stand side by side, yet both soar toward the heavens, testifies to the enduring faith of this land and the persistent dedication of its people to the one God,” Leo said, speaking about the relationship of Christianity and Islam in the country.

“Here in this beloved land,” the Pope continued, “may every bell toll, every adhān [Islamic call to prayer], every call to prayer blend into a single, soaring hymn – not only to glorify the merciful Creator of heaven and earth, but also to lift a heartfelt prayer for the divine gift of peace.”

Pope Leo, Catholic bishops come out against ‘vilification’ of immigrants in U.S.– www.cbc.ca

pgnewser November 21, 2025

Blurb:

Pope Leo has come out in support of a rare special message released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in recent days that lamented a “climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.”

Without mentioning U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration by name, 216 of 224 bishops voted in favour of releasing the message that condemned the “vilification” of migrants and expressed concerns over the fear and anxiety immigration raids have sown in communities, as well as the denial of pastoral care to migrants in detention centres.

Speaking to reporters late Tuesday as he left the papal country house south of Rome, Leo urged Catholics and all people of goodwill to listen to what they said.

“I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have,” he said. “If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts, there’s a system of justice.”

Pope Leo XIV Scolds U.N. Climate Alarmism Summit COP30– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025

Blurb:

Pope Leo XIV addressed bishops at the United Nations’ COP30 climate alarmism summit on Monday, lamenting not enough political leaders follow the Paris climate agreement and demanding more “political will” to stop alleged climate change.

Pope Leo offered remote remarks to bishops in the host city of Belém, Brazil, representing the Catholic church at COP30. The event, formally titled the “Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)”, occurs annually to bring together environmental activists, world leaders, and, increasingly, fossil fuel lobbyists to discuss global regulations on carbon emissions and other climate issues.

The most recent editions of the summit have become chaotic as far-left “green” activists demand the participating nations donate increasingly large amounts to the climate doom cause and vy for attention against representatives of key fossil fuel exporting countries and private companies.

The world’s most prolific polluting countries – India, China, and the United States – did not send their leaders to COP30 this year. President Donald Trump did not send any American representatives to the event, despite repeated pleas from leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

COP30 began on November 10 this year and has already experienced a violent mob attack on the site of the conference as, last week, a mob of indigenous activists broke through security barriers and attacked those participating on site.

Another Father James Martin Performance: Gay ABC Anchor Joins the Catholic Church With His Husband at His Side – Transcripts– warroom.org

pgnewser November 19, 2025

Blurb:

 

BEN HARNWELL (HOST): “Okay, so to give an indication of just how the Catholic Church, the so called Catholic Church, we’re constantly in search here on the WarRoom for anything Catholic about the institutional Catholic Church in the United States to see the decline. That is Frank Walker.

You have this quite surprising story of a return to the church, but though all is not as it seems. What I suggest, Denver, is while Frank is talking, perhaps we could have some of the video footage just playing on in the background of this joyous occasion. And Frank will give us the lowdown.

So basically, this Gio Benitez, who’s an openly gay ABC News weekend anchor… yeah. James Martin, who’s, who, tell us the lowdown.”

Pope Leo’s LGBT agenda: Vatican abandoning Christ?– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser November 19, 2025

Blurb:

John-Henry Westen exposes how Pope Leo XIV is advancing Pope Francis’ progressive legacy, especially on LGBTQ inclusion. From high-profile meetings with activists like Fr. James Martin to appointments linked to homoerotic art, Westen warns that the Vatican is abandoning moral clarity. He contrasts this silence with past Church discipline, calling the shift a betrayal of truth. Framing the crisis as a spiritual battle, Westen urges Catholics to resist the false mercy being promoted as virtue.

Rome remains silent on death of heroic underground Chinese bishop– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser November 10, 2025

Blurb:

Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo, a leader of China’s underground Catholic Church who endured decades of persecution under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has died at 90 years old. Yet his passing has drawn no official response from the Vatican. Bishop Jia, long targeted for his pastoral ministry, was repeatedly arrested by the Communist Party.

Starting in 1962, Bishop Jia endured multiple prison terms, ranging from periods of house arrest to as long as 15 years in confinement, for refusing to submit to the regime’s state-sanctioned church. His arrests marked significant stoppages in negotiations between Rome and China.

US bishops have given $760k to pro-abortion, pro-LGBT socialists: report– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser November 10, 2025

Blurb:

The United Workers Association (UWA) has received 16 grants totaling $760,000 from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) since 2004, including its most recent $25,000 grant for the 2024-2025 CCHD funding year.

In previous reports, we proved that UWA was involved in the push for same-sex “marriage” around 2011, and in 2020, we showed how UWA was fueling the flames of violence with its vicious rhetoric calling for the defunding of the police. All of that information will be provided at the end of this report, following these more recent discoveries.

Catholics Chaffe at Vatican’s Limitations on Divine Powers of Mary

pgnewser November 5, 2025

A document from the Vatican is recommending churches do not use the phrase “Mediatrix of ALL Graces,” claiming Revelation does not validate the term and it puts on “limits that do not favor a correct understanding of Mary’s unique place.  Catholics argue the OPPOSITE is true, it is the Vatican LIMITING Mary’s powers.

Catholics fighting back site an encyclical on the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1849 that claimed, “God has committed to Mary the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone may know that through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation. For this is His will, that we obtain everything through Mary.”

Protestants would dispute both the papal and the traditional Catholic claims on the nature of Mary, citing, Luke 11:27-28, “As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’”

Blurb:

Yesterday LifeSiteNews reported that a new document from the Vatican has discouraged the use of “Mediatrix of All Graces” as a title for the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The document suggests that the title lacks solid grounding in Revelation and carries “limits that do not favor a correct understanding of Mary’s unique place.”

On the contrary, the doctrine that all graces come to us through the mediation of the Blessed Virgin has been taught many times by the Successors of St Peter.

Cardinal Parolin slammed for downplaying Muslim terrorist attacks against Nigerian Christians– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser October 23, 2025

Blurb:

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin is under fire for remarks that downplay the terror attacks that Christians in Nigeria have been suffering at the hands of Islamic extremists for decades.

Parolin was the keynote speaker for an event held at the Vatican on Tuesday. The gathering focused on the recently released 2025 Religious Freedom Report published by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

ACN surveyed 196 countries for its report. It found that just under two-thirds of the world’s population live in countries with “serious or very serious violations of religious freedom.” Twenty-four countries, including Nigeria, received the “worst” category in its report: persecution.

The report notes that “organized crime is a key driver of persecution or discrimination” in Nigeria. It also found that persecution in Nigeria “results from a combination of authoritarian governance and religious extremism.”

“Nigeria has experienced a sharp rise in religiously motivated violence, especially in the North and the Middle Belt,” it recalls. “Armed groups like Boko Haram, ISWAP, and radicalized Fulani herdsmen have targeted churches, villages and religious leaders, leading to widespread displacement, land seizures, and attacks on Christian communities.”

Pope Leo reaffirms Church’s condemnation of usury: ‘Corrupts the human heart’– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser October 21, 2025

Blurb:

Pope Leo XIV reiterated the Church’s condemnation of usury while meeting with members of Italy’s National Anti-Usury Council on Saturday.

During the October 18 address to the Anti-Usury Council, the pontiff strongly condemned the practice of usury as a “grave sin” that “corrupts the human heart,” emphasizing that it ultimately enslaves the most vulnerable of the population. Usury, or the practice of charging excessive interest rates on loans, has been consistently condemned by the Church.

“The phenomenon of usury points to the corruption of the human heart. It is a painful and ancient story, already attested to in the Bible,” Leo noted.

Bishops PUSH BACK against Vatican CHAOS– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser October 14, 2025

Blurb:

Five bishops, including Joseph Strickland and Athanasius Schneider, led a rare act of public reparation after an LGBT pilgrimage entered St. Peter’s Basilica, calling for the Church to be cleansed of idolatry and confusion.

The panel hailed this as the first real resistance to Pope Leo’s controversial leadership. They tackled Leo’s latest scandal, equating abortion with immigration and the death penalty, and warned against the return of “seamless garment” theology. From Trump’s UN smackdown of climate alarmism to growing devotion in Russia and new pro-life campaigns, the hosts spotlighted faithful Catholics rising up while Rome descends deeper into chaos.

Pope Leo on Trump’s Gaza peace plan: ‘So far it seems to be a realistic proposal’– thehill.com

pgnewser October 3, 2025

Pope Leo on Trump’s Gaza peace plan: ‘So far it seems to be a realistic proposal’– thehill.com
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Excerpt:

 

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday called President Trump’s Gaza peace plan “realistic” when talking to reporters.

“So far it seems a realistic proposal,” the pope said, according to Vatican News, also saying he wishes Hamas would go with the plan “within the established timeframe.”

“It’s important, nonetheless, that there be a ceasefire and the release of the hostages. But there are elements there that I think are very interesting, and I hope Hamas will accept it within the established time frame,” he added.

Trump would chair an international “board of peace” to govern and rebuild Gaza within a 20-point plan that the White House unveiled Monday, which describes an end to the Israel-Hamas war and a transition toward peace.

The president would oversee the framework and funding for Gaza’s rebuilding until the Palestinian Authority has reached conditions to gain governance in Gaza.

“This body will call on the best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment,” according to the plan.

Pope Leo's official portrait breaks conventions in papal imagery ...

Pope Leo Says Wanting to Execute Child Rapists is NOT Pro-Life

pgnewser October 1, 2025

Pope Leo's official portrait breaks conventions in papal imagery ...

Pope Leo says support for death penalty is ‘not pro-life,’ defends awarding pro-abortion Durbin– www.lifesitenews.com
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Excerpt:

(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV did not rebuke Cardinal Blase Cupich for honoring pro-abortion Senator Dick Durbin with a lifetime achievement award, and said that those who support the death penalty are “not really pro-life.”

On September 30, a journalist from EWTN asked Leo what he thinks about Illinois Sen. Durbin being set to receive an award from Cupich despite his support for abortion.

Leo gave a long-winded answer that appeared to imply he did not have a problem with Durbin receiving the award.

“I think that it is very important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during … 40 years of service in the United States Senate,” he stated. “I understand the difficulty and the tensions but I think, as I myself have spoken to in the past, it is important to look at many issues that are related to what is the teaching of the Church.”

“Someone who says I’m against abortion but says I’m in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” the Pope said. “Someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

“So, they are very complex issues, I don’t know if anyone has all the truth on them, but I would ask first and foremost that there would be greater respect for one another and that we search together both as humans beings, in that case as American citizens or citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics to say we really need to look closely at all these ethical issues and to find the way forward as Church.”

Pope Leo XIV vows to work for unity so that Catholic Church ...

Pope encourages Latin American prelates to promote Church’s prophetic, missionary renewal – Catholic Culture

pgnewser September 18, 2025

Pope Leo XIV vows to work for unity so that Catholic Church ...

Pope encourages Latin American prelates to promote Church’s prophetic, missionary renewal – Catholic Culture
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Excerpt:

Pope Leo XIV received the leading prelates of the Episcopal Conference of Latin America (CELAM) on September 15.

The prelates updated Pope Leo on CELAM’s activities, including its implementation of the synod on synodality.

At the conclusion of the audience, the Pope “invited CELAM to continue promoting the renewal of the Church from its prophetic and missionary role, as ‘it has always done throughout its 70 years,’ [and] to know how to read the signs of the times,” according to CELAM.

Pope tells new US ambassador he is praying for Charlie Kirk and his family– abcnews.go.com

pgnewser September 17, 2025

Pope tells new US ambassador he is praying for Charlie Kirk and his family– abcnews.go.com
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Excerpt:

Pope Leo XIV has told the new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican that he was praying for Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist assassinated in Utah last week, as well as his wife and children

ROME — Pope Leo XIV told the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See that he is praying for Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist assassinated in Utah last week, as well as his wife and children, the Vatican spokesman said Tuesday.

Leo also “expressed concern about political violence and spoke of the need to refrain from rhetoric and exploitation that lead to polarization rather than dialogue,” spokesman Matteo Bruni said in comments reported by Vatican News.

The pope made the comments on Saturday when he received Ambassador Brian Burch in an audience to receive his credentials. The protocol visit marked their first meeting.

“The pope confirmed that he is praying for Charlie Kirk,” Bruni said.

Pope Leo XIV makes history canonizing first millennial saint Carlo Acutis– www.foxnews.com

pgnewser September 8, 2025

Pope Leo XIV makes history canonizing first millennial saint Carlo Acutis– www.foxnews.com
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Excerpt:

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Pope Leo XIV proclaimed a 15-year-old computer genius the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint, along with another popular Italian figure who spent his life spreading his faith before dying at a young age.

Leo canonized Carlo Acutis, who died of Leukemia in 2006, and Italian student and avid outdoorsman Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died in his early 20s of polio in 1925, during an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before an estimated 80,000 people.

Leo said both saints created “masterpieces” out of their lives by dedicating them to God.

“The greatest risk in life is to waste it outside of God’s plan,” Leo said in his Sunday homily. The new saints “are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces.”

Pope Leo ‘s Pro-Life Message: Reject the “Voices of Death,” “Choose Life”– www.lifenews.com

pgnewser August 22, 2025

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Excerpt:

During Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption, Pope Leo XIV gave a stirring homily calling for the faithful to reject “voices of death” and instead choose life, as the Blessed Virgin Mary did.

“In our day, we are like Mary whenever we do not flee, whenever we make Jesus’ ‘yes’ our own,” Pope Leo said. “That ‘yes’ still lives and resists death in the martyrs of our time, in witnesses of faith and justice, of gentleness and peace. Thus this day of joy becomes also a day that calls us to choose — how and for whom we shall live.”

The liturgy for this high feast day includes the Scripture passage about when Mary prays her “Magnificat,” which the Church continues to pray daily even now, Pope Leo noted.

 

Pope Leo affirms Church teaching that Judas excluded himself from salvation– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser August 22, 2025

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Excerpt:

Pope Leo XIV has taught, in accord with the Church’s doctrine, that Judas Iscariot was damned for his betrayal of Our Lord.

During his August 13 weekly audience, while giving a catechesis on Judas’ betrayal of Christ and reflecting on Our Lord’s words, ‘better if he had never been born,’ the pontiff noted that Judas chose to exclude himself from salvation through his betrayal. Pope Leo’s brief statement is in stark contrast to that of his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis, who said that he did not know if Judas went to hell.

“When [God] sees evil, he does not avenge it, but grieves. And that ‘better if he had never been born’ is not a condemnation imposed a priori, but a truth that any of us can recognize: if we deny the love that has generated us, if by betraying we become unfaithful to ourselves, then we truly lose the meaning of our coming into the world, and we exclude ourselves from salvation,” Pope Leo said.

Pope Leo XIV urges over 1 million Catholic young people to spread faith, enthusiasm– abcnews.go.com

pgnewser August 4, 2025

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Excerpt:

ROME — ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged more than a million Catholic youths to “spread your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith” when they return home to some 150 countries, during a Mass closing a weeklong encounter with the next generation of faithful.

“Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are,’’ Leo urged the young faithful. “Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you.”

The young people camped out in sprawling fields southeast of Rome overnight after attending a vigil service for the Jubilee of Youth on Saturday, also presided by Leo who has been ferried to and from Vatican City by helicopter.

The Vatican said more than 1 million young people were present, along with 7,000 priests and 450 bishops.

The special Jubilee celebration is part of the Holy Year that is expected to draw 32 million people to the Vatican for the centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism.

The week has been a joyous gathering marked by bands of youths singing hymns as they move down cobblestoned streets, praying rosaries in piazzas and standing for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to priests offering the sacrament in a dozen languages.

Pope Leo says ‘war does not solve problems’ following US strikes on Iran– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser June 22, 2025

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Excerpt:

Pope Leo XIV called the increasing tensions in the Middle East “alarming” and pushed for diplomacy as a path forward.

In a message that did not directly reference U.S. military action in Iran but came just hours after it, Leo said, “Today more than ever, humanity cries out and calls for peace.”

“This is a cry that requires responsibility and reason, and it must not be drowned out by the din of weapons or the rhetoric that incites conflict. Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable chasm. There are no ‘distant’ conflicts when human dignity is at stake,” he said after reciting the Angelus prayer in front of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass on Corpus Christi Day in St. John Lateran Archbasilica, in Rome, Sunday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

“War does not solve problems; on the contrary, it amplifies them and inflicts deep wounds on the history of peoples which take generations to heal,” he added.

The U.S. strikes came nearly two weeks after Israel began attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities and its military infrastructure. Iran’s health ministry has said at least 430 people have been killed so far as a result of Israeli missiles, with Israel saying 24 people have been killed from Iranian strikes.

Cardinal Burke says he spoke to Pope Leo about ending ‘persecution’ of Latin Mass faithful– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser June 16, 2025

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Excerpt:

Cardinal Raymond Burke revealed that he has already spoken to Pope Leo XIV about the future of the traditional Mass, hoping that the Pope will follow the example of Benedict XVI.

Addressing participants of the Latin Mass Society’s 60th anniversary conference in London on Saturday, Burke spoke of his personal intervention to the new Pope regarding the future of the traditional Mass:

It is my hope that Leo XIV will put an end to the present persecution to the faithful in the Church who desire to worship God according to the more ancient usage of the Roman Rite, this persecution from within the Church.

I have already had occasion to express that to the Holy Father. It is my hope that he will – as soon as it is possible – take up the study of this question and try to restore the situation as it was after Summorum Pontificum and even to develop what Pope Benedict XVI had so wisely and lovingly legislated for the Church.

Burke, who spoke via a video-link to the conference, has been a leading proponent of the traditional liturgy for many years.

Pope Leo XIV Appoints Controversial New Pontifical Academy for Life President– www.lifenews.com

pgnewser May 28, 2025

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Excerpt:

Pope Leo XIV this week appointed Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro — longtime chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life involved in a controversy over his 2022 comment suggesting contraception could be permissible in certain cases — as the academy’s new president.

Msgr. Pegoraro succeeds Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who became president in 2016. Msgr. Pegoraro studied in Padua and Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in moral theology and a diploma in advanced bioethics, according to the Academy for Life website. He was president of the European Association of Centers of Medical Ethics from 2010 to 2013, and he has served as a bioethics lecturer at the Theological Faculty of Trivento.

Pope John Paul II established the Pontifical Academy for Life in 1994, charging it with the task of “defense and promotion of the value of human life and of the dignity of the person,” according to its Vatican profile. Its main actions are to study problems related to promoting and defending human life; assist, through Catholic initiatives, the pro-life formation of persons; and inform Church leaders, the media, other organizations, and civil society in the findings of its research.

Pope Francis Dies, Pope Leo XIV Lives

pgnewser May 10, 2025

After the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, and the funeral that followed, the Cardinals of the Catholic Judge gathered to select the next Pope to replace him. In the end, they defied oddsmakers, picking a longshot, President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Robert Francis Prevost. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV.

Prevost is the first ever U.S. citizen to serve as Pope. He is also the first ever Peruvian citizen to serve as Pope due to his duel citizenship. He was born in Chicago but spent over a decade in Peru doing missions work. His appointment by Francis to his most recent office suggests he may be more aligned with the Catholic “left” than the Catholic “right.”

Pope Leo XIV election marks ‘super happy day’ for Catholics, according to Villanova professor– www.foxnews.com
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Excerpt:

As silence and stillness calmed the eager world, Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti, overlooking a sea of tens of thousands of teary-eyed viewers in St. Peter’s Square, introduced Catholics and non-faithful to the newest pontiff.

American Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, was elected to take the papal seat and succeed the deceased Pope Francis on May 8, 2025, after four rounds of conclave voting by 133 members of the College of Cardinals.

As the world explores both the tender and commanding qualities that make Pope Leo XIV papabile and worthy of the Vicar of Christ title, one place, a small place of around 10,000 people, is beaming with pride for the newly elected Chicago-native.

Why Pope Leo Calls His Appointment a Cross and a Blessing– time.com

pgnewser May 9, 2025

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Excerpt:

Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, made history on Thursday, May 8, when he was elected as the first American Pope. The Chicago native, who has spent many years serving as a missionary in Peru, took to the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and addressed the cheering crowd, speaking in Spanish and Italian.

On Friday morning, Pope Leo spoke once more when he presided over his first mass as Pontiff.

Dressed in a white robe with a gold border and a tall white miter, and holding a gold crucifix, Pope Leo delivered his first homily during which he spoke in his native English, as well as Latin and Italian, to the cardinals who elected him just a day before.

Leo referred to being appointed Pope as both a cross and a blessing, and spoke of the responsibility he and the cardinals have to spread Christianity in a world that sometimes mocks faith.