Associated Press

A day after closing out the 2025 Holy Year, Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday opened a new phase of his pontificate by gathering the world's cardinals to Rome and indicating some reform-minded priorities going forward.

For faith leaders supporting and ministering to anxious immigrants across the United States, 2025 was fraught with challenges and setbacks. For many in these religious circles, the coming year could be worse.

Doctors Without Borders said Israel's decision would have a catastrophic impact on their work in Gaza, where they support around 20% of the hospital beds and a third of births. 

Florida's Catholic bishops appealed to President Donald Trump on Monday to pause immigration enforcement activities during the Christmas holidays. The White House, in response, said it would be business as usual.

Pope Leo XIV urged Vatican cardinals on Monday to put their ambitions of power and personal interests aside, as he followed in Pope Francis' footsteps and used a Christmas greeting to gently criticize his closest collaborators.

The January consistory in many ways will mark the first time that the pontiff can look ahead to his own agenda following his May 8 election as the first U.S.-born pope.

This is a story both big and small, of art and faith and a human tragedy that caught the attention of Pope Francis: homeless German man Burkhard Scheffler died from the cold in 2022 on the edge of St. Peter's Square.

Pope Leo XIV criticized prison overcrowding and insufficient inmate rehabilitation programs on Sunday as he celebrated a special Mass for detainees, guards and their families in the final event of the Vatican's 2025 Holy Year.

There's a saying in Mexico: "Not all Mexicans are Catholic, but all are Guadalupan." The phrase conveys the deep connection between Our Lady of Guadalupe and the country's identity.

Palestinians hope the festivities are a step toward a more peaceful future in a region shaken by tragedy. At the same time, Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have reached the highest levels since the U.N. humanitarian office started collecting data in 2006, peaking in recent months.

The New Orleans Archdiocese will pay at least $230 million to hundreds of survivors of clergy sexual abuse under a settlement approved by a federal judge on Monday. Here is a list of some of the other large clergy abuse settlements reached by the Catholic Church in the U.S.

In a statement, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said the archdiocese would pay for the fund by reducing its budget and selling off assets, including completing the sale of its former headquarters in Manhattan, with the goal that the fund "can be set aside to provide compensation to survivors of sexual abuse."

The New Orleans Archdiocese will pay at least $230 million to hundreds of victims of clergy sexual abuse under a settlement approved Dec. 8 by a federal judge that follows years of negotiations.

HarperOne announced Wednesday that it had acquired world rights to "Peace Be with You! My Words to the Church and to the World," scheduled for release on Feb. 26. "Peace Be With You" includes sermons and addresses he has given since his election in May.

Pope Leo XIV has taken his biggest step yet to correct one of Pope Francis' more problematic financial moves, canceling a special Holy See fundraising commission that was announced under questionable circumstances while Francis was hospitalized.

Belgian authorities are mystified over a brazen theft over the weekend from a Christmas Nativity scene of an icon of infant Jesus Christ that had been widely scorned online.

Pope Leo XIV's visit to Lebanon over the weekend is a recognition of the importance of Lebanon's religious pluralism and a message to Christians not to abandon the region.

The Vatican then sent out a corrected version of its bulletin about the trip, removing reference to the planned "brief moment of silent prayer," without further explanation.

Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday that Thanksgiving was a "beautiful feast" that unites believers and non-believers alike, as he issued a message of thanks ahead of the U.S. holiday