The world had its eyes fixed on the 10th floor of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital in 2025, waiting, hoping and praying that Pope Francis would recover.

Pope Leo XIV touched down in the Angolan capital of Luanda on Saturday, April 18, beginning a three-day visit to the southern African country that is home to 20 million Catholics.

An increasing number of the nation’s young men say religion is “very important” in their lives, marking a return to levels seen 25 years ago, and edging them ahead of young women on the issue, according to Gallup.

Pope Leo XIV pushed back against the media narrative that has pitted him against President Donald Trump since the start of his 11-day apostolic journey to Africa, telling journalists aboard the papal flight to Angola April 18 that “there has been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all its aspects.”

When Pope Leo XIV was elected to the papacy on May 8, 2025, few felt the change more personally than those who had known him long before he stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Time magazine has named Pope Leo XIV to its “100 Most Influential People of 2026” list.

“The voices in the bushes.” That is the fear that defines daily life for many residents of this city in Cameroon’s troubled Anglophone region.

The canonization cause for Jesuit Father Walter Ciszek — a Polish American priest who ministered amid years in Soviet captivity — has been terminated, although Vatican’s decision does not “diminish the enduring spiritual value” of his witness, said a leading advocate for the cause.

Pope Leo XIV has warned that the rise of artificial intelligence threatens to change humanity’s relationship with truth, calling on Catholic universities to help form leaders capable of navigating an increasingly digital world with integrity and discernment.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for more than 120,000 people in Cameroon’s largest city on April 17, urging “beloved children of the African continent” to share God’s love by feeding the hungry and offering the spiritual nourishment of “the bread of life.”