-
2 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton Cardinal Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV got in the front seat of a minivan and traveled 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian confreres. And on his way back to the Vatican May 10, he went to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major, stopping to pray at the tomb of Pope Francis and before the icon of Mary “Salus Populi Romani” (health of the Roman people).
-
2 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton Cardinal Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Pope Leo XIV for his support of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and he invited the newly-elected pontiff to visit the war-torn nation. “I spoke with Pope Leo XIV. It was our first conversation, but already a very warm and truly substantive one,” the president said on his X account May 12. The Vatican press office confirmed the call took place but would not specify who initiated the phone call.
-
2 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton Cardinal Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
In Pope Leo XIV’s first greeting after being introduced as pope May 8, he described himself as a “son of St. Augustine.”The first American pope has spoken in the past with affection about the fifth-century convert, bishop and intellectual powerhouse considered the father of his religious order, the Order of St. Augustine. Although their order was founded more than 800 years after Augustine’s death, the Augustinians draw on his wisdom and holiness to shape their community.
-
2 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton Cardinal Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
As the Catholic Church welcomes its first American pope, here are 10 things to know about Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert F. Prevost. 1. Chicagoan. Pope Leo was born Sept. 14, 1955, and grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago. His father, Louis Marius Prevost, was an educator, and his mother, Mildred Martínez, was a librarian. He has two older brothers, was active in his childhood parish and his brother John says he is a White Sox fan (even though their mom was a Cubs fan).
-
3 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton Cardinal Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
In a country where more than 90 percent of the population identifies as Christian – and nearly three-quarters as Catholic – the election of a new pope is more than a Vatican affair. It’s personal. On May 8, when white smoke rose over St. Peter’s Square, signaling the election of Pope Leo XIV, Peru seemed to hold its breath. Schools went silent. Restaurants turned up their televisions. Taxi drivers, hairdressers and shopkeepers paused mid-conversation.
-
3 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton D. Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
Standing on loggia of St. Peter’s basilica, newly elected Pope Leo XIV smiled, waved and appeared to hold back emotion May 8 as he introduced himself to the world as the 266th successor to St. Peter – the first American to hold that role. His first words: “Peace be with you!”Pope Leo, 69, formerly Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, is the first pope from the United States.
-
3 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton Cardinal Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV asked journalists to be peacemakers by shunning prejudice and anger in their reporting, and he called for the release of journalists imprisoned for their work. “The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press,” the pope said May 12.
-
3 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton Cardinal Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
Two days before the May 7 conclave began, Augustinian Sister Carmen Toledano texted her religious brother Monseñor Robert, whom others called Cardinal Robert F. Prevost. She was surprised to hear his name in the news as a front-runner for pope and told him the way she saw it, the Church needed a person who knew how to break barriers – a unifier, a builder of communion, someone like him.
-
3 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton Cardinal Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
Catholics and non-Catholics alike were abuzz with excitement in Chicago May 8, after one of the city’s native sons became pope. Taking the name Leo XIV, the new pontiff has made many firsts. On the sunny street outside Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, a cab driver, Veronica Canadas, sat in her white taxi, listening intently to media coverage of the announcement of the new pope. She had just learned that Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was elected.
-
3 days ago | 
cathstan.org | Jenna Cooper |Wilton Cardinal Gregory |Msgr. John Enzler
(OSV News) – A New Orleans genealogist has found that the first U.S.-born pope has Black and Creole roots – and the discovery illuminates the nation’s rich multiracial history, the experience of Black Catholics and the importance of the Church’s sacramental records. Jari Honora, a certified genealogist and a family historian for the Historic New Orleans Collection museum, told OSV News that Pope Leo XIV’s former surname, Prevost, immediately piqued his interest.
