Pope | Pakistan

Leo, the first US Pope, spoke for 40 minutes with youth, taking faith questions and offering school advice

Pope Leo urged the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on Sunday to care for immigrants, pressing ahead with a message of welcome for migrants days after criticising US President Donald Trump’s hard-line anti-immigration policies. Leo, the first US pope, told thousands of pilgrims celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square that immigrants should not be treated with “the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination”. The pope, who did not single out any country for its treatment of migrants, called on Catholics to “open our arms and hearts to them, welcoming them as brothers and sisters, and being for them a presence of consolation and hope.” Pope talks of ‘new missionary age’ Leo had criticised the Trump administration’s immigration policies on September 30, questioning whether they were in line with the Catholic Church’s pro-life teachings, in comments that drew heated backlash from some prominent conservative Catholics. On Sunday, the pope said the global Church was experiencing “a new missionary age” in ...

Pope Leo on Saturday appointed a French archbishop as the new leader of the Vatican’s commission on clergy sexual abuse, in the US pontiff’s first public move to confront an issue that has damaged the global Church’s credibility. Thibault Verny, 59, will be president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors while also remaining the archbishop of Chambery in southeast France. The Vatican commission was created by Pope Francis in 2014 in an effort by the late pontiff to respond after sexual abuse scandals affected the Church in countries across the world. The scandals have damaged the Church’s standing as a moral voice, led to lawsuits costing millions in countries across the globe, and resulted in a number of resignations of bishops. Verny said he was committed to improving the Church’s safeguarding measures. “We will promote the […] equitable sharing of resources so that all parts of the Church, regardless of geography or circumstance, can uphold the highest standards of protection,” he said ...

Pope Leo criticised the emergence of nationalist political movements on Sunday, calling them unfortunate, without naming a specific country or national leader. Leo, the first pope from the United States, asked during a Mass with a crowd of tens of thousands in St Peter’s Square that God would “open borders, break down walls [and] dispel hatred”. “There is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbours, for the exclusionary mindset that, unfortunately, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms,” said the pontiff. Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected on May 8 to succeed the late Pope Francis as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church. Before becoming pontiff, Prevost was not shy about criticising US President Donald Trump, sharing numerous disapproving posts about him and Vice President JD Vance on X in recent years. The Vatican has not confirmed the new pope’s ownership of the X account, which had the handle ‘drprevost’ and was deactivated after Leo’s ele...

Pope Leo XIV formally began his reign on Sunday by reaching out to conservatives who felt orphaned under his predecessor, calling for unity, vowing to preserve the Catholic Church’s heritage and not rule like “an autocrat”. After a first ride in the popemobile before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, Leo was formally installed as the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign monarch of Vatican City at an outdoor Mass. Well-wishers in the crowd waved US and Peruvian flags, with people from both countries claiming him as the first pope from their nations. Born in Chicago, the 69-year-old pontiff spent many years as a missionary in Peru and also has Peruvian citizenship. Crowds chanted “Viva il Papa” (Long Live the Pope) and “Papa Leone”, his name in Italian, as his distinctive, open-topped popemobile weaved around St. Peter’s Square. Robert Prevost, a relative unknown on the world stage who only became a cardinal two years ago, was elected pope on May 8 after a short conclave of ...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has received an invitation to attend the oath-taking ceremony of the new spiritual leader of Catholic Christians Pope Leo XIV, and has nominated two ministers to participate in the event, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the Catholic Church earlier in the month, taking the name Leo XIV, becoming the first American pontiff. Last week, the newly elected Pope welcomed the ceasefire between Pakistan and India in his first Sunday message, the pontiff had said he was glad to hear of the recent Pakistan-India ceasefire and hoped negotiations would lead to a lasting accord between the nuclear-armed neighbours. According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, PM Shehbaz has nominated the Minister of State for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Kheal Das Kohistani, along with Punjab’s Minister for Minority Affairs, Ramesh Singh Arora, to attend the ceremony. They will represent Pa...