Lebanese Christians are reeling from the death and destruction wrought on their community, caught in the crossfire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, a deadly side conflict in the U.S. and Israel-Iran war.

Pope Leo XIV honored the memory of Algeria’s Christian martyrs Monday evening, telling the country’s tiny Catholic community that the blood of those who died for their faith remains “a living seed that never ceases to bear fruit.”

Pope Leo XIV said April 13 he has “no fear” of President Donald Trump’s administration and responded to Trump’s criticism by telling journalists that his message to the U.S. president is “the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Three American cardinals voiced their concerns over the Iran war, mass deportations and more in an interview that aired April 12 on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Algeria on the morning of April 13, becoming the first pope to make an apostolic journey to the North Africa nation, the first stop of the pope’s 11-day, four-country tour of Africa.

President Donald Trump lashed out at Pope Leo XIV on social media and in verbal remarks April 12, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy,” as tensions escalate in the Mideast.

Planned Parenthood’s new 2024-2025 annual report showed an increase in abortions from the previous year’s report, while also showing an increase in government funding. At the same time, it showed a decrease in cancer screenings and prevention services.

Warning against an increasingly unpredictable and aggressive “delusion of omnipotence” threatening the globe, Pope Leo XIV called on world leaders and individuals to empty their hearts and minds of hatred and violence, and to start serving life.

Thousands of pilgrims are expected to gather in June in the Lithuanian capital for the sixth World Apostolic Congress on Mercy, or WACOM, a five-day event that has previously been held in cities such as Rome, Kraków, Bogota and Manila.

Pope Leo XIV will begin his first apostolic journey to Africa on April 13, traveling more than 11,000 miles over 11 days across Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.