Pope Leo XIV’s childhood home just outside of Chicago has been declared a historic landmark.

As Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians accompany U.S.-brokered peace talks that as of Dec. 3 produced no breakthrough, Ukraine’s religious leaders warn that failure to halt Russia and hold it accountable will expand the war to Europe.

Spending time with Catholics, other Christian leaders and top Muslim clerics in Turkey Nov. 27-Nov. 30 and Lebanon Nov. 30-Dec. 2, the pope made formal speeches about how believing in God as the father of all means recognizing one another as brothers and sisters.

A New York state bishop, who is a Baltimore native, has echoed a recent call from the nation’s Catholic bishops to respect God-given human dignity, regardless of immigration status.

As Pope Leo XIV urged in Turkey Nov. 27 that “the future of humanity is at stake” with ongoing conflict in the Middle East and days after a United Nations Security Council endorsement of a U.S.-backed peace plan, Catholic leaders warn that conditions in Gaza remain grave, especially as winter approaches.

On the second leg of his apostolic journey that took him to Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV prayed at the tomb of St. Charbel on Dec. 1.

The Supreme Court on Dec. 2 heard oral arguments in an appeal from a group of faith-based pregnancy centers in New Jersey challenging an investigation by that state’s attorney general alleging they misled people about their services and seeking information about their donors.

At the end of his first foreign trip as pope, a trip focused on dialogue, Pope Leo XIV said the examples of friendship and respect he had seen could be a helpful example for people in North America and Europe, too.

President Donald Trump said in a series of social media posts on Thanksgiving Day that he will “permanently pause” all immigration from what he called “Third World Countries,” prompting concern from Catholic immigration advocates.

Dozens of “home mission dioceses” across the nation have received much-needed financial support, provided by the generosity of U.S. Catholics through an annual collection.