The construction site is “a beautiful image that speaks of activity, creativity and dedication, as well as hard work and sometimes complex problems to be solved,” the pope said as he celebrated Mass at Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran Nov. 9, the feast of the basilica’s dedication in the fourth century.

As people in the Philippines mourned the loss of more than 200 people and massive damage from a typhoon in early November and were bracing for an even more powerful storm, Pope Leo XIV offered his prayers.

At a Jubilee general audience in St. Peter’s Square Nov. 8, Pope Leo particularly welcomed pilgrims from the Jubilee of the World of Work

As the international community rightly focuses on resolving war and conflict, countries must recognize that “peace is also threatened” by climate change and environmental destruction, the pope said in a message to the Leaders Summit of COP30 in Belem, Brazil.

Being a missionary means bringing the Gospel and its values into the world and transforming the lives of individuals, which can and must transform societies, Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV said artificial intelligence should support the church’s mission of evangelization, urging Catholic technologists and venture capitalists gathered in Rome to build systems that help spread the Gospel.

During the pontificate of Pope Francis, the papal laundries for the poor were traditionally named after the pope. Pope Leo XIV asked that during his pontificate, they be named after St. Francis of Assisi.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Remembering the generations of bishops, priests and laypeople martyred for their Catholic faith under communism in Romania, Pope Leo XIV welcomed the election of a new head of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.

The bishops of the church elected 53-year-old Bishop Claudiu-Lucian Pop as the major archbishop of Fagaras and Alba Iulia and head of the church; Pope Leo gave his assent in a letter published Nov. 6.

He succeeds Cardinal Lucian Muresan, who died Sept. 25 at the age of 94.

Congratulating the new archbishop, Pope Leo prayed that he would prove to be “a shepherd who, according to the heart of Christ, tends diligently the flock entrusted to you.”

“May the Holy Spirit guide you, Beatitude, in the ministry to which the Lord has called you, that you may promote the communion and the mission of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, so that it may grow and prosper, ever mindful of the many martyrs and confessors who, by the witness of their lives, have inscribed indelible and glorious pages in the history of faith,” the pope added.

The Romanian Greek Catholic Church was banned by the communist government in 1948 and was able to fully emerge from an underground existence only with the end of communism in 1990.

Archbishop Pop was born July 22, 1972, in Piscolt. He studied in Rome at the Pontifical Urbanian University and the Pontifical Gregorian University before being ordained to the priesthood in 1995.

Pope Benedict XVI named him a bishop in 2011, and he was assigned to the Eparchy of Cluj-Gherla in 2021.

The Romanian Greek Catholic Church is one of 23 Eastern-rite churches in full communion with Rome. A major archbishop has authority similar to that of the Eastern Catholic patriarchs, and the key decisions of their churches, including the election of bishops in their home territories, is made by their synods of bishops.

Pope Leo XIV has called for dialogue and peace in Venezuela as the United States amps up pressure on the South American country — where relations between the socialist regime and Catholic officials have become tense.

The changing landscape of Christianity in Europe, with growth in some countries and continued decline in others, poses challenges that all churches should face together, Pope Leo XIV told Christian leaders.