An avid horseback-riding Pope Leo XIV has appointed a bishop who shares his passion as the new leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Bishop Richard Moth of Arundel and Brighton was named Dec. 19 as the 12th archbishop of Westminster.

Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito of Palm Beach, Florida, and named as his successor Father Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, currently pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Corona (Queens), New York.

The newly named leader of the Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks, introduced himself to the faithful of his new home Dec. 18 with a pledge to become familiar with its challenges and uphold human dignity.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dec. 18 announced new regulatory actions that would effectively ban certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender.

Meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV recognized the miracle needed for the beatification of Enrique Ernesto Shaw, a 20th-century businessman from Argentina.

President Donald Trump argued in favor of his administration’s policies on key issues like the economy and immigration in a prime-time address to the nation Dec. 17.

Approximately 50 Planned Parenthood clinics closed in 2025 as the group lost its ability to bill Medicaid, according to a report by the nation’s largest abortion provider.

The “confrontational” tone dominating both global and national politics is “deepening instability and unpredictability day by day,” Pope Leo XIV wrote in his message for World Peace Day.

In one of the most anticipated U.S. episcopal appointments of his pontificate so far, Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and named as his successor Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet, Illinois.

With Communion bowls in hand, a group of California bishops walked through the barbed wire gates of the ICE Processing Center and offered Jesus to the men locked inside.