ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM LEBANON (CNS) — At the end of his first foreign trip as pope, a trip focused on dialogue, Pope Leo XIV said the examples of friendship and respect he had seen could be a helpful example for people in North America and Europe, too. For example, the stories of Christians…
HARISSA, Lebanon (CNS) — At a shrine topped by a 28-foot-tall statue of Our Lady of Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV listened to stories of unshakable faith amid war, injustice and suffering. The pope began Dec. 1 at the tomb of St. Charbel at the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya, a place known for its…
WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Most Reverend W. Michael Mulvey, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, and has appointed Most Reverend Mario A. Avilés, CO, currently auxiliary bishop of Brownsville, as his successor. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on December 1, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe…
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions convened this fall to review grant requests for the 2025-2026 year. The subcommittee awarded more than $7.8 million in grants for 69 dioceses and eparchies. These grants are made possible through the generosity of the Catholic faithful to the Catholic Home…
ISTANBUL (CNS) — As he had done throughout his visit to Turkey, Pope Leo XIV spent his last morning in the country reaffirming the Catholic Church’s commitment to the search for Christian unity. The key symbol of that was the pope’s presence at the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople Nov.…
ISTANBUL (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV, like his two immediate predecessors, visited the so-called Blue Mosque in Turkey’s capital; he spent about 20 minutes inside but did not appear to pause for prayer as Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis had done. Instead, he listened to Askin Musa Tunca, the mosque’s muezzin who calls people…