Pope Leo XIV decried escalating violence around the world, spotlighting attacks against Christian communities and calling for peace and justice in conflict-ridden areas.

In a little over a month since his election to the papacy, Pope Leo XIV has appeared to embrace his role as a head of state to promote Catholic principles about peacebuilding, an analyst told OSV News. His actions as a head of state could also impact U.S. diplomacy.

As conflict in the Middle East escalated with Israeli airstrikes on nuclear sites in Iran and retaliatory drone attacks on Israel, Pope Leo XIV appealed for restraint and renewed the church’s calls for nuclear disarmament and peaceful dialogue.

he June 14 celebration, organized by the Archdiocese of Chicago, included a series of short video clips and first-ever airing of Pope Leo XIV’s video message to the world’s youth at Rate Field on Chicago’s Southside.

Sport, with its demands for self-giving, collaboration and perseverance, reflects the beauty and dynamic love of God, Pope Leo XIV said.

The Vatican can take three key steps to provide greater assistance than it already has in securing the return of Ukrainian children forcibly taken by Russia, a Ukrainian child advocate and former government official told OSV News.

Pope Leo XIV will canonize Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati together Sept. 7, the Vatican announced.

In an interview with OSV News, Louis Prevost said that it was more than just Robert being “the baby of the family. … There was an air about him. I mean the spirit coming out of his physical body as he grew older.”

Pope Leo XIV expressed his closeness to victims’ families after an Air India flight headed to London Gatwick airport crashed shortly after takeoff in the western city of Ahmedabad.

The cultural and pastoral diversity among clergy is not a burden but a gift that should enrich communion within the church rather than fragment it, Pope Leo XIV told the priests and deacons of the Diocese of Rome.