Vatican News

The Vatican released the official schedule for Pope Leo XIV's first apostolic visit to Spain, a seven-day trip.

In the final leg of his apostolic journey to Africa, Pope Leo XIV struck a more measured tone, delivering a message to the faithful while navigating one of the continent’s most politically sensitive environments.

Although the path to full communion has become "more difficult to discern," Catholics and Anglicans must continue on the path of dialogue and "proclaim Christ to the world," Pope Leo XIV said in his first meeting with Anglican Archbishop Sarah Mullally of Canterbury.

Priests are called each day to leave the doors of the Church open to a "suffering humanity" in need and not "be an obstacle to those who wish to enter," Pope Leo XIV told 10 deacons just before ordaining them to the priesthood.

On April 22, Archbishop Salvatore "Rino" Fisichella, a pro-prefect in the Vatican's Dicastery for Evangelization and the lead organizer for the 2025 Jubilee of Hope, presented a lecture at The Catholic University of America in Washington that emphasized the vital role liturgical formation has in supporting the spiritual lives of Catholics.

As the dust begins to settle following the April 15-18 visit of Pope Leo XIV to Cameroon, Church leaders in the Central African nation believe the pontiff's journey has created a "kairos" moment of grace in a country longing for peace.

Pope Leo XIV said on the papal plane April 23 that the Holy See does not approve of formalized blessings of same-sex couples, while stressing that Church unity "should not revolve around sexual matters" and that all people are welcome in the Catholic Church.

On his last day in Equatorial Guinea, Pope Leo XIV reminded Catholics in the country to seek strength, justice and hope from the Gospel and the sacraments.

Pope Leo XIV told inmates at a correctional facility in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, April 22 that "no one is excluded from God's love" and "God never grows tired of forgiving."

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in the second-largest Catholic Church in Africa April 22, telling Catholics in the oil-rich nation that "the future of Equatorial Guinea depends upon your choices."