Al Pacino met with Pope Leo XIV on Monday at the Vatican, in what is the first reported official audience between the first American pope and a movie star. “We are honored to announce that this morning His Holiness Pope Leo XIV received in a private audience at the Holy See a delegation from the

As Pope Leo XIV settles into his papacy, the three million U.S. Black Catholics contemplate its deeper meaning, as questions linger about his ethnic heritage. Get daily updates on

On June 14, the new American Pope Leo XIV delivered his first address to a U.S. audience via a pre-recorded video message from Chicago’s White Sox Stadium. The message, part of a packed celebration organized by the Archdiocese of Chicago,

How he chooses to bring his own legal acumen to bear on each of these three situations will say a great deal about the early direction of his pontificate.

Speaking to pilgrims at the end of a special Jubilee audience June 14, the pope expressed deep concern over the “seriously deteriorating” situation in the Middle East, warning of the consequences of further escalation. “I want to strongly renew an appeal to responsibility and reason,” he said.

"What does the pope think about us being related? That's my question," one cousin said. "What does he think of us because we're Afro American?" She plans to write a letter inviting Leo to her home if he ever visits New Orleans.

Pope Leo XIV stressed the importance to society of sport in his Angelus address in the Vatican on Sunday. Sport was more than physical achievement, but could also "become an important means of reconciliation and encounter: between peoples and within communities,