12 quotes from Pope Leo’s first year as pope April 21, 2026By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News As the one-year anniversary of Pope Leo XIV’s election to the papacy approaches, here is a selection of 12 quotes from the new pontiff on various topics, looking back over the 12 months since he became pope May 8, 2025.
‘Christ hears the cry of the people’ in the face of evil, pope says at Mass near Angola’s largest diamond mine April 21, 2026By Courtney Mares OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV traveled to the heart of Angola’s diamond country April 20, urging the tens of thousands gathered at the papal Mass in the country’s northeast to trust that “Christ hears the cry of the people” in the face of evil.
ANALYSIS: Does a new survey show potential for a confession revival? Some say yes, but others not so sure April 21, 2026By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, World News A new poll certainly tells the Catholic Church what it wants to hear: That 67% of Catholics who haven’t been to confession in the past year are open to returning, with roughly half expressing a clear desire to return.
Pope Leo donates $100K to CRS clean water project in El Salvador April 20, 2026By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV has donated $100,000 to provide access to clean water in El Salvador, supporting a program launched by the papal nuncio to that nation and by Catholic Relief Services, the official humanitarian and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
‘The heart of the Church’ is ‘alive and beating’: Pope Leo XIV leads rosary at beloved Muxima Marian shrine in Angola April 20, 2026By Courtney Mares OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV led tens of thousands of Angolan Catholics in praying the rosary April 19 at southern Africa’s most visited Catholic shrine, calling the pilgrimage site a place where “the heart of the Church” is “alive and beating.”
Pope Francis remembered in Buenos Aires as ‘guiding light’ for Argentine Church April 20, 2026By David Agren OSV News Filed Under: Books, Feature, News, Vatican, World News María Rico ambled along a busy Buenos Aires boulevard as part of a caravan through Barrio Flores — the childhood neighbourhood of the late Pope Francis — to commemorate the first anniversary of the Argentine pontiff’s death.
The Eucharist can ‘rekindle lost hope,’ Pope Leo says at Sunday Mass in Angola April 19, 2026By Courtney Mares OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV celebrated an outdoor Mass for an estimated 100,000 Catholics in Angola on Sunday, April 19, urging the faithful of a nation still bearing the scars of a decades-long civil war to find renewed hope in the Eucharist and the Risen Christ.
A father’s farewell: Journalist recalls personal bond with Pope Francis in new book April 19, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Books, Feature, News, Vatican, World News The world had its eyes fixed on the 10th floor of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital in 2025, waiting, hoping and praying that Pope Francis would recover.
Pope Leo arrives in Angola, calls for fostering ‘just model of coexistence’ April 19, 2026By Courtney Mares OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV touched down in the Angolan capital of Luanda on Saturday, April 18, beginning a three-day visit to the southern African country that is home to 20 million Catholics.
Gallup: Young men are an ’emerging exception’ among ‘low ebb’ of religiosity in US April 18, 2026By Gina Christian OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, World News An increasing number of the nation’s young men say religion is “very important” in their lives, marking a return to levels seen 25 years ago, and edging them ahead of young women on the issue, according to Gallup.
Pope Leo XIV rejects media ‘narrative’ his Africa remarks targeted Trump April 18, 2026By Courtney Mares OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV pushed back against the media narrative that has pitted him against President Donald Trump since the start of his 11-day apostolic journey to Africa, telling journalists aboard the papal flight to Angola April 18 that “there has been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all its aspects.”
Pope Leo year one: How Chiclayo’s bishop brought his grounded leadership to global church April 18, 2026By Ines San Martin OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News When Pope Leo XIV was elected to the papacy on May 8, 2025, few felt the change more personally than those who had known him long before he stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
