Amid renewed claims by U.S. President Donald Trump and members of Congress that secret UFO files could soon be declassified, a Vatican parish hosted a discussion on extraterrestrial life and the modern disclosure movement.

When Robert Francis Prevost stepped onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica one year ago May 8, he carried with him a piece of paper on which he had carefully written the first words he would utter as Pope Leo XIV. His first speech was, in ways that would only become clear over the year that followed, a preview of what was to come.

A new poll published the day after President Donald Trump renewed his series of social media and verbal attacks on Pope Leo XIV, showed Americans broadly disapprove.

Lebanese Catholic priests serving in the south of the country near the border with Israel said they were overjoyed to discover that a call with Lebanon’s papal nuncio included another special guest on the online visit, Pope Leo XIV.

Several Catholic aid organizations are affirming they remain “united in hope” for Ukraine, as Russia’s war on that nation relentlessly rages on.

The Catholic Church is the guardian of hope, whose members are called to speak clearly against all evil and in defense of human life, Pope Leo XIV said.

President Donald Trump on May 5 continued his series of social media and verbal attacks on Pope Leo XIV, accusing him in a radio interview of “endangering” Catholics through his opposition to the Iran war.

Irish dance superstar Michael Flatley stepped into the Vatican to meet Pope Leo XIV April 29, leaving the “Lord of the Dance” creator reflective on how faith and footwork are gifts from God.

Pope Leo XIV met the leadership of Catholic Charities USA in an audience at the Vatican on May 4, offering words of encouragement to one of the country’s largest disaster relief networks as it navigates growing demand for food and basic services to aid the poor in the United States.

One year in, Pope Leo XIV’s papacy has been rooted in truth, unity and love — the distinct gifts of his religious order, the Order of St. Augustine — making him a shepherd who leads with a blend of bridge-building and truth-telling, according to those who know him well and from afar.