The pastor of Gaza’s only Catholic parish revealed that Pope Leo XIV sent a personal condolence message following an Israeli missile strike that killed five people, including a Christian mother and daughter.

Pope Leo XIV named Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, who has served for over five years as archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and the pope’s vicar for Vatican City, as archbishop of the central Italian Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto.

Pope Leo XIV prayed the rosary with hundreds of children and their families at the Lourdes grotto in the Vatican Gardens Oct. 1 after the pope invited Catholics to pray the rosary throughout the month of October for peace in the world.

Pope Leo XIV has dedicated his October prayer intention to mental health ministry, calling on the Church to listen without judging and accompany those who suffer without excluding them.

From his arrival in Paris on Sept. 25 to his encounters with the sick and disabled in Lourdes, Pope Leo made the dignity of every human life the defining theme of his first visit to the country.

Bishop Robert E. Barron met Pope Leo XIV for a private audience at the Vatican Oct 1, describing his first extended, one-on-one conversation with a pope as covering “a lot of different topics.”

Pope Leo XIV’s forceful defense of human life during his Sept. 25-27 visit to France has reignited debate over the country’s newly approved assisted-dying law, which lawmakers had largely considered settled after its passage in July.

Pope Leo XIV’s journey to France aimed to show that a joyful or serene rebirth is always possible even after tremendous tragedy or terrible suffering, he said.

A photograph of Pope Leo XIV blessing Marie-Garance, a 10-year-old girl in a blue dress who has multiple disabilities, went viral after the pope encountered her in Paris Sept. 26.

Each year on Oct. 3, the followers of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) — friars; nuns; laypeople — mark the globally popular saint’s own journey from life to death, his “Transitus” as it is known in Latin, through special community commemorations.