In the Marian shrine of Lourdes, Pope Leo XIV prayed for the sick and the suffering and drank from healing spring water in the grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858.

French survivors of clergy sexual abuse who met with Pope Leo XIV in Lourdes said they were struck by the pontiff’s deep personal empathy and his frank acknowledgment of the institutional failures that allowed the crisis to fester within the Church.

Close to 800,000 people lined Paris’ Champs Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde for Mass Sept. 26 with Pope Leo XIV, who urged the people of France to follow Jesus to the source of true happiness and peace.

For the first time since the world watched as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned in the devastating 2019 fire, the pope stepped inside the famous Gothic cathedral and called on Catholics in France to be “living stones” of a Church that bears witness to how God’s love restores and heals humanity.

Pope Leo XIV has added one of America’s leading Catholic educators with expertise in the connection between history and the faith to a key pontifical commission focused on preserving truth, at a time when the Holy Father is warning of how a failure to accurately understand history could lead to a politically and technologically more dangerous future for the world.

In an open letter addressed to Pope Leo XIV, five alleged victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik said the silence and lack of information regarding the artist’s canonical trial added to their suffering.

Pope Leo XIV warned diplomats, academics and youth delegates that human dignity is being cast to the wayside in the name of efficiency and productivity in the era of AI.

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Paris Sept. 25 beginning his four-day trip to France by urging French leaders not to forget their duty to protect every human life in a forceful speech at the Élysée Palace condemning “assisted dying,” abortion and surrogacy.

The Vatican announced Sept. 22 that University of Notre Dame professor John C. Cavadini has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Ratzinger Prize.

Progress in science and technology is not contrary to belief in God, and Christians should be actively involved in shaping that progress so that it serves human dignity and the common good, Pope Leo XIV said.