WASHINGTON – “The situation in Gaza and across the Middle East cries out for the assistance of the Catholic community of the United States,” said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). In a letter to the U.S. bishops, he asked them to consider taking up a voluntary special collection in their dioceses, if they are able, to support the efforts of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA). Both organizations have well-established partnerships with the Catholic Church in the region to allow them to respond quickly and efficiently.

“Our Church mourns the terrible suffering of Christians and other innocent victims of violence in Gaza and surrounding areas who are struggling to survive, protect their children, and live with dignity in dire conditions,” continued Archbishop Broglio. “The Holy Father continues to call for a cease fire and for aid to enter the territory, noting with great sorrow that ‘Gaza is starving,’” and encouraged the bishops to consider the special collection in their dioceses at their earliest opportunity.

More information about the efforts by CRS and CNEWA in Gaza, please visit:

• https://www.crs.org/where-we-work/middle-east-north-africa/jerusalem-west-bank-and-gaza
• https://cnewa.org/what-we-do/support-emergency-relief-in-the-holy-land/

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus' love and forgiveness do not deny the truth of pain and betrayal, but they do prevent evil from having the last word, Pope Leo XIV said.

"To forgive does not mean to deny evil, but to prevent it from generating further evil," the pope said Aug. 20 at his weekly general audience in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall.

"It is not to say that nothing has happened, but to do everything possible to ensure that resentment does not determine the future," he said.

Continuing his series of talks about Jesus' final days, the pope looked specifically at "one of the most striking and luminous gestures in the Gospel," when Jesus offers a morsel of bread to Judas during the Last Supper, knowing full well that his disciple is about to betray him.

"It is not only a gesture of sharing: it is much more; it is love's last attempt not to give up," Pope Leo said.

"The key to understanding Christ's heart," he said, is to realize that his love "does not cease in the face of rejection, disappointment, even ingratitude."

"His love is stronger than hatred," he said.

The pope said Jesus recognizes that "his love must pass through the most painful wound, that of betrayal. And instead of withdrawing, accusing, defending himself, he continues to love: he washes the feet, dips the bread and offers it" to all his disciples, including Judas. 

Jesus is not ignoring what is happening, he said. Rather, he has understood "that the freedom of the other, even when it is lost in evil, can still be reached by the light of a meek gesture, because he knows that true forgiveness does not await repentance, but offers itself first, as a free gift, even before it is accepted."

Judas accepts the morsel of bread, but does not understand its meaning, and "Satan entered him," the pope said. "That morsel is our salvation, because it tells us that God does everything -- absolutely everything -- to reach us, even in the hour when we reject him."

"Jesus, with the simple gesture of offering bread, shows that every betrayal can become an opportunity for salvation if it is chosen as a space for a greater love," he said. "It does not give in to evil, but conquers it with good, preventing it from extinguishing what is truest in us: the capacity to love."

"Jesus' love does not deny the truth of pain, but it does not allow evil to have the last word," he said. "This is the mystery Jesus accomplishes for us, in which we, too, at times, are called to participate."

"We, too, experience painful and difficult" moments, such as when there is disappointment or when "someone has hurt or betrayed us," the pope said. "The temptation is to close ourselves up, to protect ourselves, to return the blow." 

"But the Lord shows us the hope that another way always exists," he said, and that the faithful can "respond with the silence of trust. And that we can move forward with dignity, without renouncing love."

"Let us ask today for the grace to be able to forgive," he said. "As Jesus teaches us, to love means to leave the other free -- even to betray -- without ever ceasing to believe that even that freedom, wounded and lost, can be snatched from the deception of darkness and returned to the light of goodness."

"Even if the other does not accept it, even if it seems to be in vain, forgiveness frees those who give it: it dispels resentment, it restores peace, it returns us to ourselves," he said.

Pope Leo spent nearly an hour and a half greeting visitors and pilgrims in the audience hall, including special guests, sports teams, newlyweds and the infirm. He greeted several families with small children, holding their newborns and posing for a family photo. 

He then headed to St. Peter's Basilica to greet those who could not fit in the large audience hall and blessed people who were waiting in the parking area outside the hall. Because of the high temperatures outside, the general audience was being held in two parts -- in the hall and in the basilica -- so people would not have to be under the hot sun.

The pope greeted the faithful in the basilica in English, Spanish and Italian and reminded them of the theme of forgiveness in his main catechesis.

"Let us all learn to pardon," he said in English. "Because to pardon one another is to build a bridge of peace. And we must pray for peace, which is so necessary in our world today, a peace which only Jesus Christ can give us."

Pope Leo: God always forgives!

A look at Pope Leo's general audience Aug. 20, 2025. (CNS video/Robert Duncan)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV asked Catholics to observe Aug. 22 as a day of prayer and fasting for peace and justice, particularly in Ukraine and in the Holy Land.

At the end of his general audience Aug. 20, the pope noted that the church will celebrate the feast of the Queenship of Mary Aug. 22.

"While our world continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine and in many other regions of the world," he said, "I ask all the faithful to spend Aug. 22 in fasting and prayer, asking the Lord to grant us peace and justice and to dry the tears of those who suffer because of the armed conflicts underway."

"May Mary, queen of peace, intercede so that people would find the path of peace," he prayed. 

The night before his audience, as he was greeting people who gathered outside the Villa Barberini in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo told reporters the new diplomatic moves aimed at ending Russia's war on Ukraine are a reason for hope, but much remains to be done.

"There is hope. We still have to work hard, pray hard and seek the way forward," the pope told reporters late Aug. 19 as he prepared to leave the villa and return to the Vatican.

Encountering the pope the day after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a delegation of European leaders, the reporters asked Pope Leo if he had heard from any of the leaders.

"I hear from some of them from time to time," the pope said, but he did not respond to a journalist who asked if he speaks with Trump.

Pope Leo, who marked the 100th day of his papacy Aug. 16, also was asked how that was going.

It has been "a blessing from God," he said. "I receive so much. I really believe in the Lord's grace, and I am so thankful for the reception I have received."

Ending his short, second stay at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo said he would return. "It's a grace to be here."
 

Pope Leo: Pray, fast for peace Aug. 22

Pope Leo asked Catholics to fast and pray for peace in the world on Aug. 22.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV paid a private visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace of Mentorella, high in the Monti Prenestini mountain range of central Italy.

On his last full day in Castel Gandolfo, Aug. 19, the pope made the hour journey northeast to pray in the shrine church and the Cave of St. Benedict, where a pious tradition holds that St. Benedict lived for two years early in the sixth century.

Pope Leo visited with the Polish priests of the Resurrectionist order, which has cared for the shrine since 1857, and they helped him ring the church bells at noon before praying the Angelus together. 

The pope returned to Castel Gandolfo for the afternoon and was scheduled to returned to the Vatican that night.

St. John Paul II visited the Mentorella shrine often as a bishop and cardinal, went there to pray before the conclave that elected him in 1978 and returned two weeks after his election.

"This place, hidden among the mountains, has particularly fascinated me. From it, one's eyes can range over and admire the magnificent view of the Italian landscape," he said during his Oct. 29, 1978, visit.

After the Annunciation, he said, Mary went to "the hill country" to visit her cousin Elizabeth, and it was there that she sang the "Magnificat."

"I wanted to come here, among these mountains, to sing the 'Magnificat' in Mary's footsteps," St. John Paul had said.

Exactly 27 years later -- Oct. 29, 2005 -- Pope Benedict XVI made a private visit to Mentorella in memory of St. John Paul's visit.

Tradition holds that the shrine, perched 3,300 feet above sea level, originally was built under the order of the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. 
 

Pope Leo visits mountaintop Marian shrine

Pope Leo made a private visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace of Mentorella Aug. 19.

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Reverend Ralph Bernard O’Donnell, as Bishop of Jefferson City. Father O’Donnell is a priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha and currently serves as pastor of Saint Margaret Mary parish in Omaha, Nebraska. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on August 19, 2025, by Monsignor Većeslav Tumir, chargé d’ affaires, a.i., of the Apostolic Nunciature, in the temporary absence of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The following biographical information for Bishop-elect O’Donnell was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Father O’Donnell was born August 31, 1969, in Omaha, Nebraska. Bishop-elect O’Donnell studied at Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri (1989-1993) and Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois (1993-1997). He received a bachelor’s degree in religion from Conception Seminary College (1993), a master of divinity from University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein (1997), and a master’s degree in Christian spirituality from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska (2000). Father O’Donnell was ordained to the priesthood on June 7, 1997.

Bishop-elect O’Donnell’s assignments after ordination include: associate pastor, Mary Our Queen parish in Omaha (1997-2001); associate pastor, Saint Vincent de Paul parish in Omaha (2001-2003); director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Omaha (2003-2008); pastor, Saint Brigit parish and Saint Rose parish in Omaha (2008-2011); director of the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Omaha (2008-2009); vice rector and dean or formation at Conception Seminary College in Conception (2011-2015); and executive director for the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (2015-2019). Since 2019, he has served as pastor of Saint Margaret Mary parish in Omaha.

The Diocese of Jefferson City is comprised of 22,127 square miles in the State of Missouri and has a total population of 926,905 of which 74,413 are Catholic.

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ROME (CNS) -- Spending the day with the poor, Pope Leo XIV prayed that Catholics would make sure their parishes are welcoming of all people and would be "on fire" with God's love.

'We are the church of the Lord, a church of the poor -- all precious, all active participants, each one bearing a unique word from God," the pope said Aug. 17 as he celebrated Mass at the Shrine of Santa Maria della Rotonda in Albano Laziale with about 110 clients and volunteers of the Diocese of Albano's Caritas programs, including people experiencing homelessness and residents of its shelter for families. 

"Let us not leave the Lord outside of our churches, our homes or our lives," the pope said in his homily at the Mass. "Rather, let us welcome him in the poor -- and then we will make peace even with our own poverty, the kind we fear and deny when we seek comfort and security at all costs."

After the morning Mass, Pope Leo returned to Castel Gandolfo -- less than two miles away -- to lead the recitation of the Angelus prayer and then to host lunch for the Caritas clients and some of the volunteers.

The luncheon was held in the Borgo Laudato Si', a project for education and training in integral ecology begun by Pope Francis in the gardens of the papal summer villa. Waiters in white shirts and black trousers served the guests a meal that included vegetable lasagna, eggplant parmesan or roast veal, fruit salad and dessert provided by local restaurants.

Cardinal Fabio Baggio, director general of Borgo Laudato Si', welcomed the pope and said the lunch with the poor was a beautiful way to celebrate Pope Leo's first 100 days in office and affirm Catholic teaching that "unites care for creation with care for every person." 

Pope Leo was seated at a round table placed at the junction of two long tables that formed an "l" under an awning to protect guests from the sun. At the table with him were: Rosabal Leon, a migrant from Peru, whose husband and two children were seated nearby; and Gabriella Oliveiro, 85, who lives by herself on the outskirts of Rome.

Before blessing the food, the pope said the setting was a reminder of the beauty of God's creation, especially God's creation of human beings in his image and likeness -- "all of us. Each one of us represents this image of God. How important it is to always remember that we find this presence of God in every person."

In his homily at the Mass, the pope had said that whether seeking assistance or providing it, in the church "each person is a gift for others. Let us tear down walls."

Pope Leo thanked the people in Catholic communities around the world who "work to facilitate the encounter between people of different origins and economic, psychological or emotional situations: only together, only by becoming one body in which even the most fragile has full dignity, do we truly become the body of Christ, the church of God."

The day's Gospel reading, Luke 12:49-53, began with the words, "Jesus said to his disciples: 'I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!'"

The fire Jesus was speaking of, the pope said, was "not the fire of weapons, nor the fire of words that burn others down. No. But the fire of love -- a love that stoops to serve, that responds to indifference with care and to arrogance with gentleness; the fire of goodness, which doesn't cost like weapons do, but freely renews the world."

The price may be "misunderstanding, ridicule, even persecution, but there is no greater peace than having his flame within us," the pope said.

The Shrine of Santa Maria della Rotonda is built in the round on the site of a first-century pagan temple. The shape, Pope Leo said, "makes us feel welcomed into the womb of God." 

"From the outside, the church, like every human reality, can appear rigid. But its divine reality is revealed when we cross its threshold and experience its welcome," the pope said. "Then our poverty, our vulnerability, and above all our failures -- for which we may be despised and judged, and sometimes we despise and judge ourselves -- are finally welcomed into the gentle strength of God, a love without sharp edges and without conditions."

"Mary, the mother of Jesus, is for us a sign and foretaste of God's maternity," he said. "In her, we become a motherly church, one that generates and regenerates not by worldly power, but by the virtue of charity."

Pope Leo prayed that Catholics would allow Jesus' fire to burn away "the prejudices, the caution and the fears that still marginalize those who carry the poverty of Christ written into their lives."
 

Pope Leo eats lunch with poor, homeless

Pope Leo XIV spent the day Aug. 17 with people experiencing homelessness and families in need -- celebrating Mass with over 100 guests and volunteers from the Diocese of Albano’s Caritas programs.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Mary's "yes" to God, to life and to love continues "in the martyrs of our time, in witnesses of faith and justice, of gentleness and peace," Pope Leo XIV said as he celebrated Mass on the feast of Mary's Assumption into heaven.

In the small parish Church of St. Thomas of Villanova on the main square of Castel Gandolfo, the pope celebrated the Mass Aug. 15 before going to the doorway of the nearby papal summer villa to lead the recitation of the Angelus prayer.

The Mass and prayer took place hours before U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were scheduled to meet in Alaska to talk about steps toward ending Russia's war on Ukraine. 

During the Mass, one of the prayers of the faithful was: "For peacemakers, that guided by God's plan to unite all humanity in one family and inspired to promote the true progress of peoples, they would serve the common good with love."

After reciting the Angelus, Pope Leo told an estimated 2,500 people in the square, "Today we want to entrust to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, assumed into heaven, our prayer for peace. She, as a mother, suffers for the evils that afflict her children, especially the little ones and the weak."

Often, he said, "we feel powerless in the face of the spread of violence across the world -- a violence increasingly deaf and indifferent to any impulse of humanity. And yet, we must not stop hoping. God is greater than the sin of human beings." 

"We must not resign ourselves to the dominance of the logic of conflict and weapons," the pope said. "Through Mary, we believe that the Lord continues to come to the aid of his children, remembering his mercy. Only in his mercy can we find the path to peace."

The Gospel reading at the morning Mass included Mary's "Magnificat," which proclaimed the great things God had done for her and her certainty that God already had fulfilled his promise to rescue the poor and oppressed.

Still today Mary's canticle "strengthens the hope of the humble, the hungry, the faithful servants of God," the pope said. "These are the men and women of the Beatitudes who, even in tribulation, already see the invisible: the mighty cast down from their thrones, the rich sent away empty, the promises of God fulfilled."

The kingdom belongs to God, the pope said, but like Mary, saying "yes" to God's love "can change everything."

"On the cross, Jesus freely uttered that 'yes' which would strip death of its power -- the death that still spreads wherever our hands crucify and our hearts remain imprisoned by fear and mistrust," the pope said. "On the cross, trust prevailed; so did love, which sees what is yet to come; and forgiveness triumphed." 

In a world that often seems resigned to evil, selfishness and "contempt for the poor and lowly," he said, the church "lives in her fragile members, and she is renewed by their Magnificat."

"Even in our own day, the poor and persecuted Christian communities, the witnesses of tenderness and forgiveness in places of conflict, and the peacemakers and bridge-builders in a broken world, are the joy of the church," Pope Leo said. "Many of them are women."

The pope ended his homily praying that all Catholics would look to their example and learn to sing with Mary, "He who is mighty has done great things for me."

"Let us not be afraid to choose life! It may seem risky and imprudent. Many voices whisper: 'Why bother? Let it go. Think of your own interests,'" he said. "These are voices of death."

"But we are disciples of Christ. It is his love that drives us -- soul and body -- in our time. As individuals and as the church, we no longer live for ourselves. This -- and only this -- spreads life and lets life prevail."
 

As Trump meets Putin, Pope Leo prays for peace

As Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump prepared for a rare summit in Alaska on Aug. 15 to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine, Pope Leo XIV issued a special plea for peace.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God never gives up on anyone, even when the person betrays God's love, Pope Leo XIV said.

Christian hope flows from "knowing that even if we fail, God will never fail us. Even if we betray him, he never stops loving us," the pope said Aug. 13 at his weekly general audience.

Arriving in the Vatican audience hall, Pope Leo welcomed the visitors in English, Spanish and Italian and explained that the audience would be held in two parts -- in the hall and in St. Peter's Basilica -- so people would not be forced to stay outside under the very hot sun. 

Pope Leo was scheduled to leave the Vatican after the two-part audience to return to the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo where he had spent part of July. The Vatican press office said he would stay until Aug. 19 in the town, which is about 15 miles southeast of Rome.

Greeting English speakers in the basilica, the pope wished them "safe travels" and prayed that God's grace would "accompany you and fulfill in your hearts that desire that we all share to live an authentic conversion, to walk united in the church, to renew our faith and to be authentic witnesses of Jesus Christ and his Gospel throughout the world."

In his main audience talk in the hall, Pope Leo continued his series about Jesus' final days, looking specifically at Jesus' revelation during the Last Supper that one of the disciples would betray him.

Jesus does not make the statement to condemn or embarrass Judas in front of the others, the pope said, but does so "to show how love, when it is true, cannot do without the truth." 

In the Gospel, each of the disciples responds, "Surely it is not I?"

The question, the pope said, "is perhaps among the sincerest that we can ask ourselves. It is not the question of the innocent, but of the disciple who discovers himself to be fragile. It is not the cry of the guilty, but the whisper of him who, while wanting to love, is aware of being able to do harm. It is in this awareness that the journey of salvation begins."

To be saved, he said, a person must recognize that he or she is in need of salvation.

But, at the same time, a disciple of Christ also should feel "beloved despite everything" and know that "evil is real but that it does not have the last word."

"If we recognize our limit, if we let ourselves be touched by the pain of Christ" at being betrayed, "then we can finally be born again," Pope Leo told the crowd. "Faith does not spare us from the possibility of sin, but it always offers us a way out of it: that of mercy."
 

Pope Leo: God won't give up on you

A look at Pope Leo's general audience Aug. 13.

WASHINGTON - Four dedicated pro-life advocates were honored on August 11 at the 2025 People of Life awards during the Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia. This year's honorees are Valerie Washington, Judy Haag, and the late Rita and Mike Marker. Approximately 100 diocesan Catholic pro-life leaders and guests attended the private awards dinner, including Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington.

The People of Life award recognizes Catholics who have answered the call outlined by Saint John Paul II in The Gospel of Life (Evangelium vitae, 1995) by dedicating themselves to pro-life activities and promoting respect for the dignity of the human person. It is bestowed in honor of their significant and longtime contributions to the culture of life. 

For the past 25 years, Valerie Washington has led the National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC) organization as Executive Director—guiding its mission, shaping its programs, and nurturing partnerships that have strengthened the Church’s commitment to justice and evangelization, with a strong embrace of the pro-life cause. Through Valerie’s leadership, the NBCC has organized national congresses that gather thousands of Black Catholics to celebrate faith, confront challenges, and envision a Church renewed in spirit and mission, while ensuring that the rich faith traditions of Black Catholics are supported and sustained. Valerie has been deeply impactful in supporting and highlighting a culture of life within the Black Catholic community and is a source of inspiration in her compassionate, persistent witness to the Gospel of Life. 

Judy Haag has spent the last 30 years as a long-term care nurse and dedicated pro-life advocate. She served as chairperson of the New Ulm Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (NUDCCW) Reverence for Life Committee for several years, where she assisted in public education and advocacy on abortion, and was named the NUDCCW “Woman of the Year” in 2017. Judy has co-chaired her local 40 Days for Life campaign since its inception over 15 years ago; leads parish participation in commemorating the Roe v. Wade anniversary on January 22; and facilitates participation in the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) March for Life. Judy has also devoted herself to mentoring youth at her parish and sharing Catholic Social Teaching, forming the next generation of faithful pro-life leaders. 

In the early 1980s, seeing the need for public action against euthanasia and assisted suicide, Rita and Mike Marker co-founded the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force. This groundbreaking organization later become the Patients Rights Council. To aid in their advocacy, Rita obtained a law degree while working and raising their family, ultimately authoring the book “Deadly Compassion” and taking on speaking engagements while Mike ran the organization’s operations. Their tireless efforts helped many dioceses, state Catholic conferences, and the USCCB, and were instrumental in shaping the existing coalition on assisted suicide. Mike Marker passed away in 2021 and Rita Marker passed away in 2023, leaving a legacy of leadership, commitment, and grit. 

The awardees join 43 other People of Life award recipients since the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities established the award in 2007. To learn more about People of Life, the bishops’ pro-life action campaign in the United States, please visit: https://www.usccb.org/prolife/people-life.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Stories about "the first 100 days" are standard fare at the beginning of a U.S. president's four-year term; the articles usually focus on how much the new president was able to accomplish and how quickly.

But a pope is elected for life and without having promised voters anything or having presented a platform.

Pope Leo XIV was elected May 8, making Aug. 16 the 100th day since he stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as the new pope. He will celebrate his 70th birthday Sept. 14.

While the first 100 days of a pontificate may hint at what is to come, the initial period of Pope Leo's ministry as the successor of Peter and bishop of Rome seemed mostly about him getting used to the role, the crowds and the protocol. 

According to canon law, the pope "possesses supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely."

In other words, he could have issued a slew of the canonical equivalent of executive orders in his first days in office. Instead, he lived up to his reputation as a person who listens before deciding -- holding a meeting with the College of Cardinals and individual meetings with the heads of Vatican offices.

Like his predecessors, Pope Leo confirmed the heads of Curia offices on a temporary basis a few days after his election. Some major nominations are expected in September or early October, starting with his own replacement as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. 

His choices for members of his team, and whether he decides to have an international Council of Cardinals to advise him will send signals not only about what he wants to do but also how he wants to do it. (Pope Francis set up the Council of Cardinals early in his pontificate to help him with the reform of the Roman Curia and to advise him on other matters, but he did not make the council a formal body.) 

September also should bring an announcement about where Pope Leo will live. Several cardinals have said that in the days before the conclave they encouraged the future pope -- whoever he would be -- to move back into the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. The move would make security easier, saving the Vatican money and allowing the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis chose to live, to return to full operation as a guesthouse.

In his first public address, moments after his election, the new pope said: "We want to be a synodal church, a church that moves forward, a church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close above all to those who are suffering."

Pope Leo went deeper when he spoke about the key objectives of his ministry -- in a pontificate that easily could last 20 years -- during a meeting with the College of Cardinals two days after his election.

He asked the cardinals to join him in renewing a "complete commitment to the path that the universal Church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council."

That path had six fundamental points that, Pope Leo said, "Pope Francis masterfully and concretely set it forth" in his first exhortation, "The Joy of the Gospel." 

The six points highlighted by Pope Leo were: "the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation; the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community; growth in collegiality and synodality; attention to the 'sensus fidei' (the people of God's sense of the faith), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety; loving care for the least and the rejected; (and) courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities."

Those realities include the widespread media attention focused on the election of the first U.S.-born pope as well as the fact that people of all stripes feel free to use social media to proclaim what Pope Leo "should" do, "must" or "must not" do.

According to a Gallup Poll conducted in the United States July 7-21 and published Aug. 5, Pope Leo was the most favorably viewed of 14 world leaders and major newsmakers; 57% of Americans said they had a "favorable opinion" of him and 11% said they had an "unfavorable" opinion.

"These figures closely match Pope Francis' ratings when he assumed the role in 2013, then viewed favorably by 58% and unfavorably by 10%, as well as Pope Benedict in 2005 -- 55% favorable, 12% unfavorable," Gallup said.

Among those surveyed, self-identified Catholics gave all three popes even higher ratings at the beginning of their pontificates, the polling group said, "with Leo viewed favorably by 76%, Francis by 80% and Benedict by 67%." 

As the weeks passed after his election, Pope Leo seemed to grow more comfortable with a crowd, spending more time blessing babies and enjoying his interactions with the thousands of people who came to St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audiences.

At his general audience Aug. 6 -- held outside on a very warm summer day -- the pope finished his formal program in less than an hour, then spent another two and a half hours shaking hands, posing for photos with pilgrim groups and having unusually long conversations with dozens of newlywed couples before offering them his blessing.

As a Curia official, the future pope had a reputation of being somewhat reserved, but Pope Leo has shown he has a special tool for connecting with a crowd: speaking English and Spanish as well as Italian, the Vatican's official working language.

His ability to switch between the three languages effortlessly was on full display at the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers July 28-29 and the related Jubilee of Youth July 28-Aug. 3. The young people roared with approval as he spoke to them in languages that most could understand.

While his U.S. roots and Peruvian missionary experience undoubtedly will impact his papacy, he has been very respectful of the Italian tradition of not making major announcements or changes during the summer holidays.
 

100 days of Pope Leo XIV

The first 100 days is a milestone borrowed from politics as a way to glimpse the tone and priorities of a new leader. Pope Leo XIV, elected May 8, will reach that point on August 16.