Born in the U.S., forged in Peru, chosen in Rome, Leo XIV will helm a church facing debt, division and decline

Political figures around the world have congratulated Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, after his election on Thursday, May 8, as Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Hailing from Chicago and a dual U.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Monday called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the “precious gift of free speech and the press” in an audience with some of the 6,000 journalists who descended on Rome to cover his election as the first American pontiff.

The Catholic office overseeing the Gaza church with which the late Pope Francis communicated daily has shared with Newsweek a message following the selection of a new pontiff in the midst of the ongoing war.