Among his first messages, Pope Leo XIV expressed his intention to strengthen the Catholic Church’s ties with the Jewish community.

Augustinian Father Robert Hagan said that fellow order member Pope Leo XIV has “always been a brother to us” — one who encouraged him from his early days to his own leadership role in the order.

“Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” St. Augustine’s famous words addressed to God introduce his account of how a headstrong, self-indulgent young man became one of the most important Christian thinkers of all time and a saint — and the father of the Augustinian order, to which Pope Leo XIV belongs.

A report released earlier this year estimates that the Catholic Church in Minnesota contributes more than $5 billion annually in economic benefits to the state.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington has confirmed to OSV News that its offices are assisting with some travel expenses, at the request of the state of Virginia, for dozens of white South Africans known as Afrikaners, whose refugee applications were expedited by the Trump administration due to what the White House called “racial discrimination.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order May 12 that he said would lower prescription drug costs — an issue the U.S. bishops have flagged in recent years — but the exact potential impact of the order was the subject of debate.

The first American pope has spoken in the past with affection about the fifth-century convert, bishop and intellectual powerhouse considered the father of his religious order, the Order of St. Augustine.

Days before he was elected, Pope Leo XIV (then Cardinal Robert F. Prevost) received a ringing endorsement from a Catholic school teacher in New Jersey — one the pope-to-be apparently read just hours before entering the conclave at which he would be chosen.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said he hopes Pope Leo XIV will “be a dear brother and collaborator … for the rapprochement of our churches, for the unity of the whole Christian family, and for the benefit of all of humankind.”

Pope Leo XIV’s schedule of public liturgies in May includes events revolving around the inauguration of his ministry, visits to Rome’s major basilicas and a celebration of priestly ordinations.