By choosing to make his first trip as pope to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV will shine a huge spotlight on the faith Christians share and on the yearnings for peace and prosperity common to all people.

A new Vatican document on Mary affirms a Scripture-based understanding of her person and her pivotal role in salvation history, according to several experts — although some lament the document failed to confirm two key titles popularly associated with her over the centuries, while commending renewed attention to the role of Mary.

Insisting that the dignity of all people, including immigrants, must be respected, Pope Leo XIV asked U.S. Catholics and “people of goodwill” to read and listen to the U.S. bishops’ recent pastoral message on the topic.

Six months into his papacy, as Pope Leo’s activities have increased, so has the scrutiny observing his every move. We parse every word, every audience, every movement, and in so doing, we betray our fractured existence.

As the U.N. Climate Conference continued in Brazil, the pope dedicated his weekly general audience talk Nov. 19 to explaining how Jesus’ death and resurrection should lead Christians to “a spirituality of integral ecology,” which seeks the good of the human person and the planet.

Religious orders of men and women must continue perfecting their efforts to ensure the safety and integrity of every child, every person they meet and every member of their order, Pope Leo XIV said.

While “creation is crying out” and millions of people suffer the effects of climate change and pollution, politicians are failing to act, Pope Leo XIV said.

The priests who staff nunciatures and other Vatican diplomatic missions around the world must be priests first and diplomats second, Pope Leo XIV told them.

The study groups Pope Francis had established to provide an in-depth reflection on controversial, complex or “emerging” questions raised during the Synod of Bishops on synodality have published interim reports.

Before joining hundreds of people for lunch, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor and prayed that all Christians would share “the love of God, which welcomes, binds up wounds, forgives, consoles and heals.”