Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV met privately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife May 18, their second encounter of the day.

Launching his papacy with a call for reconciliation and communion, Pope Leo XIV formally began his ministry as the successor of St. Peter by calling for "a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world."

Pope Leo XIV will formally begin his ministry as bishop of Rome with a liturgy steeped in tradition and rich in symbolism May 18.

Both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV on May 18, the vice president's office said.

Thanking Pope Leo XIV for his prayers for Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church gave the pope a painting and a list of prisoners the Ukrainians want the Vatican's help in liberating.

Pope Leo has seen the world from the bottom up, an experience that can only be life altering.

Habemus Papam! We have a new pope. Can there be any phrase more joyful to the Catholic ear? And now all eyes will be on him, watching and waiting to see the direction this new successor to Peter will take.

In a country where over 90% 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.

When Catholics heard on May 8 the new pope had chosen the name Leo XIV, the thoughts of many turned immediately to Leo XIII, the last pope to bear the name.