Sydney newlyweds James Lu and Fiona Choi ticked off some unusual items on their Europe vacation list: wedding clothes and shoes along with an Akubra hat and Pope Leo XIV’s estimated head size.

Bishop Paul Tighe, a top official at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, is urging caution on artificial intelligence — warning that its hidden environmental costs, impact on jobs and broader social risks can’t be overlooked.

Pope Leo XIV joined his brother bishops and fellow Americans in the U.S. in expressing condolences following a deadly mass shooting that took place Aug. 27 at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis shortly after the start of the school day during an all-school Mass at the adjacent Annunciation Catholic Church.

Even in countries with the strictest separation of church and state, being a Christian means living and acting like one, Pope Leo XIV told a group of politicians and civic leaders from France.

Pope Leo has consistently turned his audience’s eyes to St. Augustine, the fifth-century bishop who continues to serve as a philosophical and theological heavyweight in Catholic thought.

Pope Leo XIV sent his “heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness” to all those affected by the “terrible tragedy” of a shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 17 people injured.

Pope Leo XIV appealed to Israel and Hamas to stop the violence that has caused “so much terror, destruction and death.”

Christian hope is not about avoiding pain and suffering but about knowing that God gives people the strength to persevere and to love even when things go wrong, Pope Leo XIV said.

Two months after celebrating a new Mass “for the care of creation,” Pope Leo XIV will return to Castel Gandolfo to formally inaugurate Borgo Laudato Si’, a place of education, ecology and spirituality in the papal summer estate.

Pope Leo XIV’s first World Peace Day message will expand on the prayer he expressed the night of his election when addressing the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square.