Justin McLellan

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado asked Pope Leo XIV Jan. 12 to intervene in freeing political prisoners and advance a democratic transition in the country after the ousting of its president by U.S. forces.

Pope Leo XIV will soon travel to Spain and to the Canary Islands, a major migrant entry point into Europe, a Spanish cardinal said, shedding light on the pope's travel plans for 2026.

The pontiff also stressed the "inalienable rights" of migrants and incarcerated people and condemned what he described as the "progressive institutional marginalization" of the family worldwide.

During his first extraordinary consistory on Jan. 7-8, a rare meeting that summons cardinals from around the world to Rome, Pope Leo XIV made a direct appeal for collaboration on the part of the cardinals.

The 170 cardinals attending the extraordinary consistory called by Pope Leo XIV set the church's mission and synodality as the priorities for their two days of discussions.

The close of the 2025 Holy Year capped a Jubilee opened by Pope Francis and which became a defining backdrop for Pope Leo XIV's pontificate thus far.

The pontiff had barely stepped onto the loggia wearing the mozzetta and papal stole before social media was ablaze with traditionalists claiming, "We're so back."

Vogue included Pope Leo XIV in its list of the 55 Best Dressed People of 2025, an unranked roundup of what the fashion outlet called "extremely fashionable characters."

John Prevost reflects on the years after his brother left home, from his brother Robert's time in the minor seminary and missionary life in Peru to his transition into the papacy.

NCR sat down with John Prevost, the brother of Pope Leo XIV. This first excerpt from that interview with the middle of the three Prevost brothers focuses on the brothers' childhood, family life and early faith formation.

The pope also said that Europe should be involved in security guarantees for Ukraine after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
 

"Where global leaders measure their strength in the power of their personalities, Leo's restraint leaves room to heed his rhetoric," writes NCR's Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan.

The group was split 5-5 on a statement that held Jesus' masculinity and that of all who receive holy orders "is not accidental" but rather an "integral part of the sacramental identity."

Pope Leo XIV's press conference aboard the plane returning from his first papal trip abroad also touched on Ukraine, immigration and his spirituality, and revealed new insights into where he might travel next.

In Lebanon, the pontiff visited a hospital for people with mental disabilities, celebrated Mass for 150,000 and prayed at the site of a deadly 2020 chemical explosion.

"You have time! You have more time to dream, to plan and to do good," the pope said. "You are the present, and the future is already taking shape in your hands! You have the enthusiasm to change the course of history!"

Addressing some 400 government officials at his first public engagement in Beirut, the pope said Lebanon needs "authorities and institutions that recognize the common good as superior to the particular."

The Vatican continues to advocate for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine and, despite resistance, will continue to seek mediation between Israel and Palestine, Pope Leo XIV said in an impromptu airborne press conference.

The pope celebrated Mass with some 5,000 people, many foreign-born Catholics, in an intimate Istanbul arena on Nov. 29, his last full day in Turkey. 

Seventeen centuries after the Council of Nicaea crafted the creed that defined Christianity, Pope Leo XIV returned to the ancient site with an appeal to "overcome the scandal of the divisions" that fracture Christians.