Essay: Why MAGA Christianity should fear the new Pope

In an article first published on Religion News Service, Rev JENNIFER BUTLER, founder of Faith in Democracy and Faith in Public Life, says Pope Leo’s election offers hope, because he reminds the world that religious conviction need not serve nationalist power…
Explainer – Can Pope Leo remain a US citizen now that he’s a foreign head of state?

AP Pope Leo XIV’s election as the first US-born leader of the Catholic Church elevated him to the extremely rare, and legally thorny, position of being an American citizen who now is also a foreign head of state. Born in Chicago as Robert Prevost in 1955, the new pope for the past decade has held […]
Catholics see a familiar political divide in Pope Leo XIV and his eldest brother

United States RNS Just hours after Pope Leo XIV was announced from the loggia, his two brothers began making headlines. John Prevost, the middle brother, took an agonisingly long time to answer Leo’s first papal call, as documented by The Associated Press. Then the eldest brother, Louis Prevost, appeared on Piers Morgan’s show to discuss […]
Inside the papal conclave: How the Americas paved the way to Pope Leo XIV

CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, of Religion News Service, reports that a quiet alliance between North and South American cardinals helped elect the first US-born Pope…
In the US, White Sox unveil a graphic installation honouring Pope Leo XIV and his World Series appearance

Chicago, US AP There is a new landmark at the home of the Chicago White Sox – Section 140, Row 19, Seat 2. That’s where Father Bob – the future Pope Leo XIV – sat for Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. Father Tom McCarthy, left, and Brother Joe Ruiz, right, pose for a […]
What we can learn about Leo XIV from his digital footprint

Vatican City RNS When Cardinal Robert Prevost emerged from the loggia of St Peter’s as Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, robed in white and wearing the traditional red mozzetta, he also brought with him a sizable digital footprint, a first for a pope. Popes are elected without a background check or a medical exam, much […]
An Augustinian brother recalls his mentor, ‘Father Bob,’ before he was Pope Leo XIV

RNS Brother Joe Ruiz always felt a certain restlessness in life. After graduating from a Catholic college in Austin, Texas, he has worked as an electronics technician for a computer company, a folklore dancer and as an extra for the opera Carmen. Brother Joe Ruiz, OSA, right, professes his first vows as an Augustinian in […]
Cardinal Prevost put his head in his hands as papacy loomed

Vatican City Reuters As US Cardinal Robert Prevost realised during the secret conclave that he might be elected the next Catholic pope, he put his head in his hands at the daunting prospect of leading the 1.4-billion-member church, a cardinal said on Friday. New Jersey Cardinal Joseph Tobin, one of the other 132 clerics locked […]
Pope Leo once levied criticism at Trump and Vance. MAGA is not amused

Washington DC, US Reuters Before becoming pontiff, the first US-born Pope was not shy about criticising President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance – social media musings that pulled him into the maelstrom of divided US politics on Thursday as he took on leadership of the global Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIV, who was […]
Catholic Chicagoans celebrate as native son Pope Leo XIV becomes first American Pope

Chicago, US AP After white smoke billowed Thursday from the Sistine Chapel, signaling that a pope had been chosen, students in every classroom at The Frances Xavier Warde School in Chicago had their eyes glued to TV screens. As the image of the new Pope, Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost, appeared onscreen, cheers erupted through […]