Pope Leo XIV blesses a baby during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Basilica on Aug. 13, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Aug 16, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has officially reached the 100-day mark of his pontificate. Elected as the 267th pope on May 8, the Holy Father has already participated in several historic moments — including speaking to over a million young people at the Jubilee of Youth — and has had beautiful encounters with the faithful from all over the world.

Here are some of the best moments of Pope Leo meeting pilgrims, visitors, and dignataries during his first 100 days.

Pope Leo’s first general audience

In his first general audience as pope, the Holy Father appealed for an end to hostilities in Gaza and for the entrance of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

“I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of decent humanitarian aid and to end the hostilities whose heartbreaking price is paid by children, the elderly, and the sick,” he said.

One month to the day since Pope Francis’ April 21 death, Pope Leo also recalled with gratitude the “beloved Pope Francis, who just a month ago returned to the house of the Father.”

One pilgrim in attendance was husband and father Chuma Asuzu. He traveled from Canada with his family to attend the pope’s first general audience.

“He made the point to drive around a lot because it was his first audience, and he looked emotional at the beginning,” he said referring to the pope’s first popemobile ride.

Pope Leo welcomes notable figures to the Vatican

During his first 100 days, Pope Leo has welcomed several notable figures to the Vatican ranging from professional athletes to actors to politicians. Some of these individuals include U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Argentina President Javier Milei, professional tennis player Jannik Sinner, actor Jonathan Roumie, professional soccer team SSC Napoli, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, among others.

In an interview with EWTN News Correspondent Colm Flynn, Roumie, known for his role portraying Jesus in the series “The Chosen,” called his meeting with the pope “fantastic.”

“He was so kind and so gracious and generous with his time,” he added.

“There was just a kindness on his face and just a charity about him that just moved me,” Roumie said.

Pope Leo gives heartfelt advice to newlyweds

In a heartfelt moment, Pope Leo offered marriage advice to a young American couple days after their wedding, sharing how he was blessed by the example of his own parents who prayed the rosary together every day.

Cole and Anna Stevens received Pope Leo’s personal blessing for their marriage during one of the pope’s first general audiences on June 11, just four days after their wedding at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham, Alabama.

“There was no rush in his voice. There was no looking around… He was solely focused on the question that Cole asked and then how could he answer it to the best of his abilities,” Anna Stevens said.

Pope Leo receives ‘Da Pope’ T-shirt from Chicago family

A Chicago family vacationing in Rome made headlines after a video of their encounter with Pope Leo XIV went viral.

Marcel and Ann Muñoz, along with their three children, met the pope after Mass on July 20 at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Pancras in Albano, a town about 16 miles south of Rome, and gifted him a T-shirt that reads “Da Pope” — a reference to “Da Bears,” which stems from the old “Superfans” sketches on “Saturday Night Live.”

“He turned left, and he just kind of beelined towards us, so whatever it is, it’s like everyone else is, you know, very nicely dressed for a summer Mass except us — so we did kind of stick out,” Marcel Muñoz said, according to CBS News. “But you know, it’s one of those things where it’s like: ‘Hey, you’re going to be here once. Hopefully, you can catch his attention.’”

“How many people get this opportunity to be in front of the pope, to have his attention, to hold his hand? I kissed his ring, and you know, it’s such — you feel blessed,” Ann Muñoz said.

The faithful welcome a pope back to Castel Gandolfo

After Pope Francis in 2013 broke with the papal practice of escaping the Roman heat in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo continued the tradition — spending two weeks in July in the papal summer residence.

The faithful in the small, Italian town welcomed him eagerly. During his time there, the pope visited St. Martha Home for the Elderly. After spending time praying in the chapel, the Holy Father personally greeted approximately 20 elderly people, all between the ages of 80 and 101.

He also greeted a young nurse and after prayer along with some songs, the pope addressed everyone, highlighting some themes from the songs and referring to that Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke.

Augustinian sisters sing for Pope Leo

In a heartfelt moment, a group of Augustinian Sisters Servant of Jesus and Mary sang for the Holy Father during a meeting in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. The pope, an Augustinian himself, was visibly moved by the encounter with the religious sisters.

Pope Leo celebrates Pentecost with the faithful

In one of his first major feast day celebrations as pope, the Holy Father addressed roughly 70,000 pilgrims for the solemnity of Pentecost in which he urged them to embrace the Holy Spirit as a source of freedom and grace and called on the faithful to adopt “the way of the Beatitudes” to spread the Gospel message.

“Let us invoke the Spirit of love and peace, that he may open borders, break down walls, dispel hatred, and help us to live as children of our one Father who is in heaven,” the pope said.

“Brothers and sisters, Pentecost renews the Church and the world!” he added. “May the strong wind of the Spirit come upon us and within us, open the borders of our hearts, grant us the grace of encounter with God, enlarge the horizons of our love, and sustain our efforts to build a world in which peace reigns.”

1 million young people join Pope Leo for the Jubilee of Youth

In what was his largest address of his pontificate thus far, Pope Leo told an estimated 1 million young adults to “study, work, and love according to the example of Jesus” and to pray: “Stay with us, Lord.”

The Jubilee of Youth took place in Rome from July 28 to Aug. 3. The pope took part in an evening prayer vigil and celebrated Mass with the young people at Tor Vergata — the same location where Pope John Paul II celebrated the jubilee in 2000.

One pilgrim who traveled from Omaha, Nebraska, to Rome for the jubilee was 29-year-old Clare Fletcher. She called the question-and-answers with Pope Leo during the Saturday prayer vigil “poignant and so relevant! Each spoke for us. Each spoke to our hearts.”

“This is a pope who knows the youth. His response was savvy, beautiful, and worth remembering, not to mention worth praying with for some time,” she said.

Police with automatic weapons guard outside the West Kowloon court after Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai arrived for his national security trial in Hong Kong on Aug. 15, 2025. / Credit: ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Aug 16, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump has vowed to do “everything [he] can” to “save” imprisoned Catholic activist Jimmy Lai, promising to “see what we can do” to help the longtime human rights advocate who has languished in jail for years.

Trump made the remarks during a radio interview with Fox News this week, stating that he has “already brought it up” in government circles.

The U.S. president’s vow comes as Lai, imprisoned by Chinese Communist Party authorities since 2020, is nearing the end of a lengthy national security trial in Hong Kong.

Closing arguments in the trial were postponed repeatedly this week amid inclement weather and medical concerns regarding Lai. The 77-year-old has reportedly experienced heart troubles while imprisoned.

A longtime free speech activist and human rights advocate, Lai — who converted to Catholicism in 1997 and who has spoken publicly about his faith on numerous occasions — was first arrested just over five years ago, in August 2020, on charges related to China’s then-new national security law.

The government has handed down multiple jail sentences to Lai since then on other charges related to unlawful assemblies and fraud. Delayed for years, his national security trial commenced in December 2023.

Lai’s supporters and advocates have suggested that the outcome of the trial is likely foregone. Father Robert Sirico, a Catholic priest and the founder of the Michigan-based Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, told CNA at the start of Lai’s security trial that he had little hope that the Chinese government would allow Lai to walk free.

“When was the last time you saw a totalitarian government put someone through their court system and have them come out innocent?” he said.

Sirico echoed those fears in an essay at the Free Press this week, describing the trial as fully “subject to Chinese control.”

“There is no jury. The three judges were handpicked by Hong Kong’s chief executive, who is under the thumb of the CCP. These judges hold Lai’s fate in their hands,” the priest wrote.

Amid his ongoing imprisonment and trial, Lai has drawn international support. A congressional commission in 2023 urged the U.S. government to sanction Hong Kong prosecutors and judges if they failed to release the activist. That same year, a coalition of international human rights groups called for efforts to secure his release. Catholic leaders around the world have likewise called for his release.

Earlier this year he was awarded the Bradley Prize for being an “inspiration to all who value freedom.” The Catholic University of America last year featured his artwork on its campus. A bill in the U.S. Congress even proposes renaming a Washington, D.C., street “Jimmy Lai Way.”

How much the U.S. government could ultimately do to help Lai is unclear. Ahead of his reelection last year, Trump promised to get Lai out of jail, though this week he appeared to walk back that assurance.

“I didn’t say 100% I’d save him. I said 100% I’m going to be bringing it up,” he told Fox radio host Brian Kilmeade.

Still, Trump said, “[Lai’s] name has already entered the circle of things that we’re talking about.” Trump further praised Lai’s son, Sebastien, for his efforts to free his father.

Sirico, meanwhile, this week wrote that Lai in his yearslong imprisonment “reminds us what it looks like to live without fear. To speak without permission. To suffer for the truth.”

“He reminds us, in other words, of what it means to be free,” the priest said.

Moral theologian Charles Camosy, a bioethics professor at The Catholic University of America and an acclaimed author, speaks to anchor Catherine Hadro on “EWTN News In Depth” on Aug. 15, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

CNA Staff, Aug 16, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

As artificial intelligence (AI) has become more widespread, a Catholic bioethics expert is warning against the dangers posed by it, saying it’s “not too late” to “put the genie back in the bottle” and avoid the worst effects of the new technology.  

Pope Leo XIV has already warned that AI could have negative effects on the development of young people and contribute to a “loss of the sense of the human.”

“He took the name Leo XIV to connect himself to Leo XIII, who himself was dealing with the industrial revolution of the late century, which totally transformed culture,” moral theologian Charles Camosy, a bioethics professor at The Catholic University of America and an acclaimed author, told “EWTN News In Depth” anchor Catherine Hadro on Aug. 15.

“We’re undergoing right now a similar technological change that is going to totally transform the culture,” Camosy said. “How do we respond?” 

Camosy recently wrote a story for the Atlantic in which he argued that addressing artificial intelligence “could be the most ambitious and enduring project of Pope Leo XIV’s legacy.”

AI is “going to impact nearly every part of our culture,” Camosy noted, adding that “people often can’t tell the difference when they’re talking to a human being or a chatbot.”

“To the extent that we have any confusion about that, that’s really super worrisome, because we need to hold on to this idea that we’re fundamentally different from a large-language model,” he said.

“We are flesh and blood made in the image and likeness of God with a soul that reflects a relationship that can’t possibly be present in a chatbot.” 

With an ongoing loneliness epidemic, people are already vulnerable, he noted. 

Camosy remarked that if individuals are living in a world where, “addicted to their smartphones,” they are unable to communicate authentically and lack friends who can respond genuinely, they can become “vulnerable to a very articulate chatbot.” 

He said AI chatbots are not just “stepping in to fill the void, but doing so in ways that at least imitate the need that all of us have for intimacy, for somebody to care about us.” 

It is something that the Church has been addressing for some time via working groups on AI, Camosy noted. 

“You could argue that the Church has been ahead of the broader culture on AI because these groups have been around for some years,” he said. 

Camosy referred to the Vatican document Antiqua et Nova: Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence as a Catholic resource on AI. 

“I suspect, but don’t know for sure, that our current Holy Father is at least in the early stages of putting something like that together,” he continued. 

“It’s not just AI,” he said, noting that the AI discussion ties into the “advent of transhumanism.” 

Transhumanism is a scientific and cultural movement proposing the modification of human biology through technology, potentially blurring the lines between the artificial and the real. 

“We’re in this really important cultural moment where this second industrial revolution is right on the cusp of happening. Thank God we have someone like Pope Leo” to lead the Church through it, Camosy said.

He pointed to grand claims that AI will eventually help human beings move away from work altogether. But work, he pointed out, is “an integral part of the human experience.”

“We need protections for work. We need protections for workers,” he said. “It’s not too late to put the genie back in the bottle on this one. We have to create a culture that shapes AI to serve human beings, not the other way around.”

Pope Leo XIV smiles during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 16, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has made numerous memorable remarks during the first 100 days of his pontificate (May 8 to Aug. 16). Below are some of the most notable.

The peace that comes from Christ

1. “It is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally” (First greeting after being elected).

2. “In a divided and troubled world, the Holy Spirit teaches us to walk together in unity” (Vigil of Pentecost).

3. “Today more than ever, humanity cries out and calls for peace. This is a cry that requires responsibility and reason, and it must not be drowned out by the din of weapons or the rhetoric that incites conflict” (Angelus on the solemnity of Corpus Christi).

The evangelizing mission

4. “These are contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family, and so many other wounds that afflict our society” (Homily at Mass with cardinals).

5. “Take courage! Without fear! Many times in the Gospel Jesus says: ‘Do not be afraid.’ We need to be courageous in the witness we give, with the world and above all with life: giving life, serving, sometimes with great sacrifices in order to live out this very mission” (Homily in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica).

6. “Evangelization, dear brothers and sisters, is not our attempt to conquer the world but the infinite grace that radiates from lives transformed by the kingdom of God” (Vigil of Pentecost).

7. “This dimension of our Christian life and mission is close to my heart and is reflected in the words of St. Augustine that I chose for my episcopal service and now for my papal ministry: ‘In Illo uno unum.’ Christ is our savior and in him we are one, a family of God, beyond the rich variety of our languages, cultures, and experiences” (Address to the Pontifical Mission Societies).

God’s merciful love

8. “God loves us, God loves all, and evil will not prevail. We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united, holding hands with God and with each other, let us move forward” (First greeting after being elected).

9. “For if we remain in his love, he comes to dwell in us and our life will become a temple of God. His love enlightens us, influences the way we think and act, spreads outwards to others and embraces every situation in our lives” (Regina Caeli, May 25).

10. “God’s joy is not loud, but it truly changes history and brings us closer to one another” (Mass for priestly ordinations).

11. “The risen Jesus shows us his wounds and, although they are a sign of humanity’s rejection, he forgives us and sends us on our way” (Mass for priestly ordinations).

12. “The Father does not love us any less than he loves his only-begotten Son. In other words, with an infinite love. God does not love less, because he loves first, from the very beginning!” (Mass for the Jubilee of Families).

13. “To believe in him and to be his disciples means allowing ourselves to be changed and to take on his same feelings. It means learning to have a heart that is moved, eyes that see and do not look away, hands that help others and soothe their wounds, shoulders that bear the burden of those in need” (Mass at Castel Gandolfo).

14. “Brothers and sisters, today we need this ‘revolution of love’” (Mass at Castel Gandolfo).

15.  “God’s love is so great that Jesus does not keep even his mother for himself, giving Mary to us as our mother, in the hour of the cross” (Homily at Castel Gandolfo with the Italian Carabinieri).

16. “If we deny the love that has generated us, if by betraying we become unfaithful to ourselves, then we truly lose the meaning of our coming into the world, and we exclude ourselves from salvation. And yet, precisely there, at the darkest point, the light is not extinguished. On the contrary, it starts to shine. Because if we recognize our limit, if we let ourselves be touched by the pain of Christ, then we can finally be born again” (Catechesis on betrayal).

17.  “Faith does not spare us from the possibility of sin, but it always offers us a way out of it: that of mercy” (Catechesis on betrayal).

18. “Jesus is not scandalized by our fragility. He knows well that no friendship is immune from the risk of betrayal. But Jesus continues to trust. He continues to sit at the table with his followers. He does not give up breaking bread, even for those who will betray him. This is the silent power of God: He never abandons the table of love, even when he knows he will be left alone” (Catechesis on betrayal).

The family

19. “One of the most wonderful expressions of the love of God is the love that is poured out by mothers, especially to their children and grandchildren” (Homily in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica).

20. “And you, dear children, show gratitude to your parents: Saying ‘thank you’ each day for the gift of life and for all that comes with it is the first way to honor your father and your mother” (Mass for the Jubilee of Families).

21. “In the family, faith is handed on together with life, generation after generation. It is shared like food at the family table and like the love in our hearts. In this way, families become privileged places in which to encounter Jesus, who loves us and desires our good, always” (Mass for the Jubilee of Families).

22. “Our affection for our loved ones — for the wife or husband with whom we have spent so much of our lives, for our children, for our grandchildren who brighten our days — does not fade when our strength wanes. Indeed, their own affection often revives our energy and brings us hope and comfort” (Message for the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly).

23. “It is the responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies. This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman” (Audience with the diplomatic corps).

The grace of the Holy Spirit

24. “The Holy Spirit comes to challenge us, to make us confront the possibility that our lives are shriveling up, trapped in the vortex of individualism” (Mass on the solemnity of Pentecost).

25. “The Spirit of God allows us to find a new way of approaching and experiencing life. He puts us in touch with our inmost self, beneath all the masks we wear. He leads us to an encounter with the Lord by teaching us to experience the joy that is his gift” (Mass on the solemnity of Pentecost).

Christ the Eucharist and the Church

26. “All the fruitfulness of the Church and of the Holy See depends on the cross of Christ. Otherwise, it is only appearance, if not worse” (Homily on the Jubilee of the Holy See).

27. “Christ is God’s answer to our human hunger, because his body is the bread of eternal life: Take this and eat of it, all of you!” (Homily on the solemnity of Corpus Christi).

28. “When we partake of Jesus, the living and true bread, we live for him. By offering himself completely, the crucified and risen Lord delivers himself into our hands, and we realize that we were made to partake of God” (Homily on the solemnity of Corpus Christi).

29. “The life of the Church and of the world, indeed, can only be understood in the succession of generations, and embracing an elderly person helps us understand that history is not exhausted in the present, nor is it consummated amid fleeting encounters and fragmentary relationships, but rather opens the way toward the future” (Message for the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly).

30. “Unity in the Church and among the Churches, dear sisters and brothers, is fostered by forgiveness and mutual trust” (Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul).

The priesthood

31. “The priestly ministry is one of sanctification and reconciliation for the building up of the body of Christ in unity” (Jubilee for Priests).

32. “All too often, today’s world offers models of success and prestige that are dubious and short-lived. Do not let yourselves be taken in by them! Look rather to the solid example and apostolic fruitfulness, frequently hidden and unassuming, of those who, with faith and dedication, have spent their lives in service of the Lord and their brothers and sisters. Keep their memory alive by your own example of fidelity” (Jubilee for Priests).

33. “Let us make an effort, then, to turn our differences into a workshop of unity and communion, of fraternity and reconciliation, so that everyone in the Church, each with his or her personal history, may learn to walk side by side” (Mass and blessing of the pallium of the new archbishops).

34. “We should pray for the conversion of the many people, inside and outside the Church, who do not yet recognize the urgent need to care for our common home” (Mass for the Care of Creation).

35. “While it is important that we live our faith in concrete actions and fidelity to our duties, according to each individual’s state and vocation, it is also essential that we do so by starting from meditation on the word of God and by paying attention to what the Spirit suggests to our hearts, reserving, for this purpose, moments of silence, moments of prayer, times in which, silencing noise and distractions, we place ourselves before him and achieve unity within ourselves” (Mass at Albano).

Young people

36. “Dear young people, Jesus is our hope ... Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you” (Mass for the Jubilee of Young People).

37. “And to young people, I say: ‘Do not be afraid! Accept the invitation of the Church and of Christ the Lord!’” (The pope’s first Regina Caeli).

38. “You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of the world. And today your voices, your enthusiasm, your cries — which are all for Jesus Christ — will be heard to the ends of the earth” (Words of the pope at the inauguration Mass of the Jubilee of Young People).

Hope

39. “Amid life’s trials, our hope is inspired by the firm and reassuring certainty of God’s love, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That hope does not disappoint” (Message from the World Day of the Poor).

40. “By recognizing that God is our first and only hope, we too pass from fleeting hopes to a lasting hope. Once we desire that God accompany us on the journey of life, material wealth becomes relativized, for we discover the real treasure that we need” (Message from the World Day of the Poor).

41. “In a world darkened by war and injustice, even when all seems lost, migrants and refugees stand as messengers of hope. Their courage and tenacity bear heroic testimony to a faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see and gives them the strength to defy death on the various contemporary migration routes” (World Day of Migrants Message).

Self-giving and love of neighbor

42. “The practice of worship does not automatically lead to being compassionate” (Catechesis at the general audience).

43. “Let us ask the Lord for the gift of understanding where our life is stuck. Let us try to give voice to our desire to be healed” (Catechesis on the healing of the paralytic).

44. “Every gesture of willingness, every gratuitous act, every forgiveness given in advance, every effort patiently accepted, is a way to prepare a place where God can dwell” (Catechesis on the preparation of the Passover meal).

45. “Be agents of communion, capable of breaking down the logic of division and polarization, of individualism and egocentrism. Center yourselves on Christ, so as to overcome the logic of the world, of fake news, of frivolity, with the beauty and light of truth” (Jubilee of Digital Influencers and Missionaries).

The meaning of life

46. “A very widespread ailment of our time is the fatigue of living: Reality seems to us to be too complex, burdensome, difficult to face. And so we switch off, we fall asleep, in the delusion that, upon waking, things will be different. But reality has to be faced, and together with Jesus, we can do it well” (Catechesis on the woman with hemorrhages and Jairus’ daughter).

47. “It is very important to listen to the voice of the Lord, to listen to it, in this dialogue, and to see where the Lord is calling us towards” (Homily in the Crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica).

48. “At the root of every vocation, God is present, in his mercy and his goodness, as generous as that of a mother” (Homily at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls).

49. “The fullness of our existence does not depend on what we store up or, as we heard in the Gospel, on what we possess. Rather, fullness has to do with what we joyfully welcome and share” (Mass for the Jubilee of Young People).

50. “I am an Augustinian, a son of St. Augustine, who once said: ‘With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.’ In this sense, all of us can journey together toward the homeland that God has prepared for us” (First greeting after being elected).

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Aug 16, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Saturday, Aug. 16, marks Pope Leo XIV’s 100th day as pope. Since his May 8 election as the first pope born and raised in the United States, the 69-year-old Chicago native has already left his mark on a jubilee year filled with papal liturgies and a surge in pilgrim enthusiasm.

Here are some of the highlights of the first 100 days of the new Holy Father:

Papal jubilee: Pope Leo offers 16 public Masses in 14 weeks

Pope Leo XIV began his papacy in the heart of the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, and he made the most of this opportunity to interact with Catholic pilgrims from across the globe by offering many Masses with the public.

Leo XIV offered 16 large public Masses in just 14 weeks — an average of more than one per week — including seven Masses in June alone. The pace marks a significant shift from the final years of Pope Francis’ pontificate when the aging pope was unable to offer Mass himself at the altar. Francis was present at only four Masses with the public in the same time period last year.

The papal Masses have drawn large crowds and significant attention, beginning with his first inaugural Mass, which brought 200 foreign delegations — including heads of state and royalty — to the Vatican. Since then, Leo has celebrated liturgies for the jubilees of Families, Priests, and Youth as well as on major solemnities and feasts including Pentecost, Corpus Christi, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Trinity, Sts. Peter and Paul, and Mary, Mother of the Church.

Leo XIV is the first pope elected during a jubilee year since 1700.

A singing pope 

One of Pope Leo’s most unexpected moments came during his first Regina Caeli address, when he stunned a crowd of 200,000 in St. Peter’s Square by singing the Marian hymn rather than reciting it in Latin like his recent predecessors. Since then, he has continued chanting during liturgies and leading crowds in sung versions of the Our Father in Latin.

The move inspired the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music to launch “Let’s Sing with the Pope,” an online series aimed at making Gregorian chant more accessible.

First American pope on White Sox stadium jumbotron 

In June, the first pope born and raised in the United States appeared on the jumbotron at a gathering of American Catholics at Chicago’s Rate Field — home of his beloved White Sox. In a video message delivered entirely in English, Pope Leo urged young people to be “beacons of hope” and invited all to see that “God is reaching out to you, calling you, inviting you to know his son, Jesus Christ.”

It was the pope’s first direct address to his hometown since his election and one of the earliest papal speeches given entirely in English.

The new pope’s love of sports has led to some memorable moments. He blessed 159 cyclists as they passed through Vatican City in the final leg of the Giro d’Italia.  

A self-described “amateur tennis player,” Pope Leo XIV joked with tennis star Jannik Sinner, ranked the world’s No. 1, whether his white cassock would meet Wimbledon’s requirement for all white attire.

The pope has also been gifted White Sox and Bears jerseys and has signed baseballs for enthusiastic pilgrims. 

A voice for peace in Gaza and Ukraine 

Pope Leo XIV’s first words were “Peace be with you all,” recalling the first greeting of the risen Christ recorded in Scripture. As wars continued and at times intensified during Pope Leo’s first months, the pope has continued to be a voice for peace.

In June, after U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Pope Leo urged world leaders “to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss.” Following an Israeli strike that killed three people at Gaza’s only Catholic church in July, he appealed for “a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and full respect for humanitarian law.”

“Today more than ever, humanity cries out and pleads for peace,” the pope said during an Angelus from the window of the Apostolic Palace.

Leo also met with bishops and pilgrims from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Castel Gandolfo in July, where the two discussed the urgency of “just and lasting paths of peace,” according to the Vatican.

Leo carries the Eucharist through the streets of Rome 

Pope Leo personally carried the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of Rome during a Corpus Christi procession from the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.  

“Together, as shepherds and flock, we will feed on the Blessed Sacrament, adore him, and carry him through the streets,” he said. “In doing so, we will present him before the eyes, the consciences, and the hearts of the people.”

More than 20,000 people turned out for Leo XIV’s first Eucharistic procession as pope.

Return to Castel Gandolfo 

Pope Leo revived the papal tradition of spending summer days at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. During his two-week stay in July, he led public Masses in local parishes, greeted pilgrims as he led the Angelus prayer in Liberty Square, and received visiting dignitaries. His stay marks the first papal summer retreat in the lakeside town since the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Leo introduces the world to great quotes by St. Augustine  

A member of the Augustinian order, Pope Leo has quoted St. Augustine in nearly every one of his homilies as pope. In his first public words on May 8, he said: “I am an Augustinian, a son of St. Augustine, who once said, ‘With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.’” 

Addressing 1 million young people at the Jubilee of Youth in August, he quoted Augustine’s “Confessions”: “You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness… I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.” 

A focus on artificial intelligence 

Pope Leo has frequently spoken about artificial intelligence (AI), which is already shaping up to be a topic of interest in his pontificate with many hoping that he will address it in an encyclical.

Early on in his pontificate, Leo drew parallels between his namesake Pope Leo XIII, who responded to the industrial revolution with Rerum Novarum, and today’s digital revolution, explaining that the rise of AI poses “new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”

“Humanity is at a crossroads, facing the immense potential generated by the digital revolution driven by artificial intelligence,” he warned in a message to the Geneva-based AI for Good Summit. “The impact of this revolution is far-reaching, transforming areas such as education, work, art, health care, governance, the military, and communication.”

The Vatican website received a revamp shortly after Leo’s election, and insiders noted Leo’s relatively tech-savvy background, including a personal Twitter account prior to his papacy. 

The pope also expressed concern in a speech to another AI conference about the negative effects that AI can have on the “intellectual and neurological development” of rising generations and the “loss of the sense of the human” that societies are experiencing. 

Leo declares a new doctor of the Church 

In one of his most significant theological gestures, Pope Leo named St. John Henry Newman, a 19th-century English convert from Anglicanism, a doctor of the Church — a rare title given to just 37 other saints. The title is granted in recognition of an already canonized saint’s significant contribution to advancing the Church’s knowledge of doctrine, theology, or spirituality. 

Leo also approved the upcoming canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati in September as the first saints of his pontificate. He greenlit seven additional causes for canonization, including that of Blessed Bartolo Longo, a former satanist turned founder of the Marian shrine in Pompeii.

Carrying the cross before a million young people at the Jubilee of Youth 

Pope Leo addressed the largest crowd of his papacy to date at the Jubilee of Youth, where an estimated 1 million young adults camped out in fields in Tor Vergata, southeast of Rome. 

He surprised them by walking through the crowd to the stage, personally carrying the jubilee cross. During the evening vigil, he answered youth questions in English, Italian, and Spanish, offering reflections on loneliness, discernment, and friendship with Christ.

After Eucharistic adoration, chants of “Papa Leone!” echoed long into the night. Leo stayed past 10 p.m. — well beyond the scheduled end. 

Earlier in the week, he made a surprise appearance at the opening Mass, joyfully proclaiming in English: “Jesus tells us: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world!” and the crowd erupted in cheers.

null / Credit: Sora Shimazaki/Pexels

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 15, 2025 / 16:41 pm (CNA).

A new study found that 2025 graduates of Catholic law schools are not only more focused on ethics, service, and community, but they are also more likely to be practicing law than graduates of secular institutions.

The study, commissioned by the St. Mary’s University School of Law and conducted by YouGov, asked a national sample of 1,076 law school graduates across Catholic and secular institutions (844 secular and 232 Catholic) questions about motivation, career trajectory, values alignment, civic participation, and ethical formation.

The report revealed graduates of Catholic institutions highly prioritize their career outcomes and professional commitments. It found that 14% more Catholic law school students who graduated this year are currently practicing law than graduates of secular institutions. Also, 13% more Catholic law graduates said their career aligns with their personal values.

The survey revealed that those who attended Catholic law schools are more likely to prioritize community roles and civic engagement.

Surveyed Catholic law school graduates were four times more likely to have held an elected community role and twice as likely to have tutored youth or community members, coach youth sports, or have served on bar committees. Catholic school graduates were also found to have a 26% higher participation rate in local elections.

More Catholic law school graduates said they were motivated to enter the profession to uphold the rule of law (10%) than secular graduates. Catholic graduates were also more likely to cite “helping others” and “seeking justice” among their top motivations.

The report noted that 7% more Catholic school graduates said they feel confident applying ethical reasoning in complex legal situations and 8% more said education provided a framework for resolving moral or professional conflicts.

The study also found that graduates of Catholic schools tended to have more positive experiences while in law school. Of the participants, 15% more Catholic graduates than secular graduates reported they felt a sense of community at law school, 12% more said law school helped them find life’s purpose, and 10% more said law school clarified their broader purpose in the profession.

Overall, the study revealed that aside from providing legal expertise, Catholic law schools are also encouraging a moral framework and strong commitment to community. 

St. Mary’s reported the study is the first national one of its kind focused on law school graduates. It builds on a 2024 report by St. Mary’s that surveyed undergraduate and general alumni and found Catholic university graduates are more likely to report higher fulfillment and more emphasis on morality in their decision-making. A second version of the broader study is scheduled for later this year.

Thousands fill St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of Youth welcome Mass on July 29, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Aug 15, 2025 / 15:59 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has included a pilgrimage by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) on its official calendar for the 2025 Jubilee Year, despite the traditionalist Catholic group’s historically fraught relationship with the Holy See. 

The SSPX, founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in Ecône, Switzerland, to preserve traditional Catholic practices amid the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), will hold a solemn high Mass and a procession to the Basilica of St. John Lateran on Aug. 20. 

In preparation for the pilgrimage to Rome, the SSPX began a novena to the Immaculate Conception from Aug. 11–19.

The SSPX, led by Superior General Father Davide Pagliarani, views the pilgrimage as an act of fidelity to “Eternal Rome,” emphasizing its commitment to traditional liturgy, as stated in a 2024 letter by U.S. District Superior Father John Fullerton.

“Our main focus is the priesthood and its greatest treasure: the holy sacrifice of the Mass,” the SSPX website states.

The group’s inclusion during a jubilee year of celebration and forgiveness held every 25 years reflects efforts of the Church over the years to reconcile with the group amid the SSPX’s canonically irregular status.

The SSPX’s troubled history with the Vatican began with Lefebvre’s dissent from Vatican II’s changes, particularly in ecumenism and collegiality, “which insisted that the Church be ruled primarily by the democratic process and bishops’ conferences, limiting the power of the pope as sole head of the universal Church as well as each individual bishop’s autonomy within his own diocese,” according to the group’s website.  

Lefebvre’s 1988 consecration of four bishops without papal approval led to his excommunication and that of the bishops, deemed a “schismatic act” by Pope John Paul II, rendering the SSPX canonically illegitimate.

Although Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications in 2009, the group remains outside full communion with the Church.

However, recent Vatican concessions signal openness to dialogue. Pope Francis granted SSPX priests the faculty to hear confessions validly in 2015 (extended indefinitely post-2016) and authorized diocesan oversight for valid SSPX marriages in 2017.

The inclusion of the SSPX’s pilgrimage in the jubilee calendar stops short of full regularization. However, Jimmy Akin of Catholic Answers told CNA in 2024 that the lifting of excommunications implies the SSPX is not in formal schism.

But the priests of the society are “celebrating Mass without the proper permissions, creating a canonically irregular situation,” Akin said.

Monsignor Camille Perl of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei noted in 1998 that Catholics should avoid SSPX Masses unless no alternatives exist due to the group’s “schismatic mentality.”

Akin pointed out, however, that the Code of Canon Law stipulates that Catholics “can participate in the Eucharistic sacrifice and receive holy Communion in any Catholic rite.” Since SSPX is using the approved 1962 rite of the Mass, “the faithful can attend it and receive holy Communion.”

“The fact it is being celebrated in a canonically irregular situation does not change this,” Akin said. 

He pointed out that “every time a priest commits a liturgical abuse, it creates a canonically irregular situation” but that the Church “does not want the laity to have to judge which canonically irregular situations involve ‘too much’ of a departure from the law.” 

Thus the faithful’s “right to attend and receive holy Communion in any Catholic rite is protected.”

The SSPX claims it now numbers 720 priests and close to half a million faithful spread throughout the world. It hosts a number of growing ministries, including retreats and summer camps for children.

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CNA Staff, Aug 15, 2025 / 14:33 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Costco won’t dispense abortion pill at pharmacy locations 

Costco won’t dispense the abortion pill mifepristone in its pharmacies following pressure from investors to refuse selling the drug in its stores.

With more than 500 pharmacy locations, the retailer says the company hasn’t seen consumer demand for the pill, according to Bloomberg News. 

A coalition including the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the Idaho-based Inspire Investing last year publicly urged the company to not stock the drugs. Costco in the statement did not comment on whether the coalition played a role in its decision not to stock the drug.

Chemical abortions account for about half of the abortions in the United States every year.

ADF attorney Michael Ross called Costco’s decision “a very significant win” and said the group hopes “to build on” this win over the coming year.

Major online abortion provider named in Texas wrongful death lawsuit  

A wrongful death lawsuit was recently filed against a major online abortion drug provider after a Texas man allegedly poisoned his wife and unborn child with drugs he obtained from the company.

According to the lawsuit, the man spiked the drink of the mother of his unborn child with abortion pills, killing the unborn child and sending the mother to the emergency room.

The lawsuit claims that Christopher Cooprider killed his own unborn child with abortion drugs from Aid Access, a group that ships abortion drugs into states like Texas, where abortion is generally banned.

The lawsuit names Aid Access Founder Rebecca Gomperts and Cooprider as defendants.

The filing contains a series of texts where Cooprider appears to attempt to pressure the mother of his child into abortion.

“You’ve told me 1,000 times you are trying to stress me out so that I lose the baby,” the mother wrote. “I can’t wait to hold that gorgeous baby though, if it’s alive.”

Though the mother had “no intention of aborting,” Cooprider slipped the abortion pills into her hot chocolate on April 5, the lawsuit said, leading to the death of the baby.

Pro-family groups file lawsuit opposing Montana’s constitutional right to abortion

Two pro-family Montana groups are continuing to oppose the abortion rights provision in the state’s constitution in a district court.

The Montana Life Defense Fund and Montana Family Foundation filed a lawsuit in Yellowstone District Court earlier this week.

The groups asked Judge Thomas Pardy to declare the constitutional initiative invalid because the full text was not printed on the ballot.

The Montana Constitution guarantees a right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability (around the 22nd week of gestation).

Advocates challenged the measure’s passage under a two-year statute of limitations. The groups were initially ruled against by the Montana Supreme Court but resolved to continue opposing the measure.

Indiana appeals court upholds pro-life law

The Indiana Court of Appeals this week upheld an Indiana pro-life law that protects unborn children throughout pregnancy with some exceptions.

In the 31-page ruling, a panel of judges ruled to uphold the law requiring abortions to be performed only in hospitals and surgery centers and to protect unborn life except in cases of a serious health or life risk to the mother, a lethal fetal anomaly, or cases of rape or incest.

Planned Parenthood Great Northwest opposed the law in the suit, arguing that if a pregnancy risked the mother’s health, providers might be afraid to abort the unborn child because of fears of legal repercussions.

In addition, the plaintiffs opposed that the law required abortions to be performed in hospitals or surgical centers, not freestanding clinics.

The appeals court ruled to uphold the law, maintaining that the circumstances brought before them “do not necessitate an abortion to treat those risks.” The panel of judges added that because abortions are only allowed in “an extreme medical scenario,” the hospital rule “is not a material burden” on the state’s constitutional right ot abortion.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita called the ruling a “resounding victory for life” and said he is committed to “protecting the most vulnerable and upholding our state’s values.”

Rosario Murillo is “co-president” of Nicaragua. / Credit: Nicaraguan Council for Communication and Citizenship (CC0 1.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 15, 2025 / 14:03 pm (CNA).

The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and his wife and “co-president” Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua on Aug. 12 confiscated the iconic San José Catholic School in Jinotepe, accusing the school of having been a place where “coup-plotters tortured and murdered.”

In a statement released by a media outlet aligned with the dictatorship, Murillo said that “we have a new education center. This is an achievement of the peace we are experiencing, that we safeguard, that we deserve. In Jinotepe, a school where the coup-plotters tortured and murdered comrades during the criminal occupation, and where did these crimes occur? Unfortunately, at San José School.”

“That school has been transferred to the state because it is emblematic of barbarism, but at the same time of the dignified and victorious struggle, in this case we in the Jinotepe family [community] who defeated the coup attempt,” she added.

“It will bear the name, now in the hands of the Nicaraguan state, of the hero, the martyr comrade Bismarck Martínez,” whose “murder shocked the entire country” in 2018.

Martínez was a Sandinista sympathizer who disappeared on the night of June 29, 2018, when he drove near the San José School in Jinotepe. He was allegedly “kidnapped, tortured, and disappeared.” The regime has turned Martínez into a martyr to “reinforce its narrative” about the alleged “coup d’état,” the newspaper Confidencial said.

Jinotepe was one of the towns most affected by the Nicaraguan dictatorship’s “Operation Cleanup” against the civilian population who had taken to the streets to protest against the regime. On the night of July 8, 2018, hundreds of police and paramilitary forces invaded the town. According to the newspaper Article 66, at least 32 people were killed.

‘An outrage against religious freedom’

Martha Patricia Molina, researcher and author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” which in its latest edition lists nearly 1,000 attacks by the dictatorship against the Catholic Church since 2018, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that Aug. 12 is a “date that will be marked as a day of infamy for religious freedom in Nicaragua.”

“The dictatorship has once again dealt a severe blow to the Catholic Church by confiscating the San José School, run by the Josephine nuns,” which has provided a good education to many Nicaraguans since the 1980s.

“The confiscation will have a negative impact on the children and young people who received a quality education and will now be indoctrinated by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship. In addition to confiscating the nuns’ property, co-dictator Rosario Murillo calls them murderers and torturers,” Molina lamented.

However, the researcher clarified, “we all know that the Josephine sisters, since they first established themselves in Nicaragua in February 1915, have educated boys and girls in Christian and humanist values based on love for one’s neighbor and the practice of charity.”

Parents don’t want ‘indoctrination by a dictatorship’

Parents, who will have a different school in the way it is run starting Monday, Aug. 18, with a new principal aligned with the dictatorship, expressed their concern for their children’s future.

A mother, identified as Cecilia, told the newspaper Confidencial that “this brazen theft of the school where generations of professionals studied is deplorable, and they are accusing it of fabricated crimes, where the only thing the nuns did was treat the wounded and shelter the population from the bullets and the terrible repression in 2018.”

Regarding what will happen to her daughter, the woman was clear: “I don’t want her to end up in a school where the only thing that will take place is indoctrination by a dictatorship.”

Another parent, identified only as Santiago, said he was “sick and sad” but “deeply angry because they are ruining what little remains of quality private education.”

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs denounced the expropriation on X, calling it “further proof that the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship’s cruelty knows no bounds.” 

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Andy via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

CNA Staff, Aug 15, 2025 / 13:11 pm (CNA).

A Pennsylvania priest has been placed on administrative leave after he confessed to local prosecutors last month to falsifying the results of a high-level fundraising raffle at his parish.

Father Ross Miceli allegedly “admitted to publicly falsifying the results of the grand prize winner” of a raffle for either a Corvette or a $50,000 cash prize at St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Erie.

In an Aug. 14 statement, the Diocese of Erie told CNA that Miceli will be placed on administrative leave as part of the ongoing investigation into the priest’s actions. Erie Bishop Lawrence Persico has also recommended that St. Jude Parish hire “an independent forensic auditor to review all finances.”

The priest announced his resignation from the parish on the weekend of July 20, though he did not give a reason at the time. The Erie Diocese said last month that Miceli would be heading to St. Timothy Parish in Curwensville starting on Aug. 12, where he would be a “sacramental assistant.”

The diocese also said in its Aug. 14 statement St. Jude’s will “sell the car from the fundraiser back to the dealer, and the parish will attempt to refund all raffle ticket purchases.” 

The Catholic parish hosted the “Winavette” raffle in 2024, allowing buyers to purchase $50 tickets for the chance to win a Stingray 1LT Corvette. The grand-prize winner of the event could take either the car or $50,000 in cash. The raffle was open to players nationwide.

On Dec. 25, 2024, the church announced that “Martin Anderson” of Detroit had won the grand prize. The reported winner “chose the cash option,” the church said.

Yet an employee of the parish allegedly “raised concerns” about the raffle to Persico, according to the warrants, leading the diocese to investigate the contest and eventually contact the county prosecutor’s office.

The priest reportedly “admitted [to the employee] that he fabricated the grand-prize winner’s name,” the Times-News reported, citing the documents. The priest allegedly committed the falsification after “a problem with the raffle system” left the grand prize without a winner.

The priest said the prize money was “still in an account” after the fabrication. Miceli allegedly told the employee that he “needed to keep this secret,” according to prosecutors. Miceli also allegedly fabricated several other winners in the raffle.

Miceli’s confession was reportedly detailed in warrants from the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, according to an Aug. 7 report in the Erie Times-News.

Detectives seized Miceli’s iPad and iPhone as well as financial records for both the parish and the raffle, the Erie paper reported.

Law enforcement handling the case did not respond to a query from CNA on Aug. 7. 

But the diocese told the Times-News that it was aware of the investigation and was “cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities.”

On Facebook the church posted that 2024 was the “last year” the raffle would be held, though they noted that Father John Detisch was operatinga similar raffle at Dubois Central Catholic School in Dubois.