By Courtney Mares Pope Leo XIV told inmates at a correctional facility in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, on 22 April that "no one is excluded from God's love" and "God never grows tired of forgiving." "Each of us, with our unique stories, mistakes and sufferings, remains precious in the Lord's eyes," he said to the incarcerated men and women gathered. "We can say this with certainty, because J...

By Courtney Mares Pope Leo XIV said he has "no fear" of President Donald Trump's administration and responded to Trump's criticism by telling journalists that his message to the US president is "the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers." Speaking aboard the papal plane, a chartered ITA Airways flight en route from Rome to Algiers, Pope Leo said that he had seen Trump's rece...

Listening and responding to the cries of the poor and the earth is central to the mission of the Church. That is the conclusion of the Bishops Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service in welcoming the release of a major new international report. Australian Catholic University senior lecturer in theology Dr Sandie Cornish coordinated one of ten study groups arising out of the XVI G...

By David Austin OSA A plethora of books have been published on Pope Leo XIV since his election as Pope. Many have naturally focused on the fact that he is an American – indeed one book is subtitled ‘The American Pope’. His years of service in Peru have also been treated extensively. Perhaps, understandably, these books give little attention to his connection with Australia. Fr Dave A...

Australians have been urged to take up the invitation of Pope Leo XIV to pray for peace. Pope Leo will celebrate a prayer vigil for peace in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Saturday 11 April (6pm Rome time) and has invited all people of goodwill across the world to join him in prayer. “Let us continue to pray for the gift of peace for the whole world,” Pope Leo said. The call comes ami...

By Carol Glatz Appealing to those in power to end all conflicts through dialogue and not domination, Pope Leo XIV urged humanity to stop growing accustomed to wars and violence and announced a prayer vigil for peace on April 11. "We cannot continue to be indifferent! And we cannot resign ourselves to evil!" he said during the Easter Mass on 5 April, before giving his Easter blessing urbi...

Archbishop Anthony Randazzo will relocate to the Vatican to assume his new role. Photo: Giovanni Portelli/ACBC. Bishop of Broken Bay, Anthony Randazzo, has been appointed by Pope Leo XIV as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts. The appointment to the Roman Curia is accompanied by the conferral of the title Archbishop and nomination as the Apostolic Administrator of the Brok...

Research into American congregations who are committed to the Traditional Latin Mass (or ‘Extraordinary Form’) has earned Notre Dame Professor Stephen Bullivant the honour of a private audience with Pope Leo XIV to discuss his findings. Professor Bullivant, together with his research collaborator Dr Stephen Cranney from the Catholic University of America, met with Pope Leo earlier this mont...

As the conflict in the Middle East intensifies, Caritas Australia has said it is receiving increasingly grave reports from its partners across the region. In a recent update, Caritas Australia said Caritas Middle East and North Africa had expressed deep concern over the devastating humanitarian consequences for civilians, noting that communities already living in fragile conditions are now ...

By Courtney Mares Pope Leo XIV has urged the media to show the human face of suffering amid war and to verify news so as not to recirculate "propaganda" or become a "mouthpiece for those in power." Pope Leo XVI addresses broadcast journalists who produce the TG2 news programs for the Italian state-owned television channel, Rai 2, during a March 16, 2026, audience in the Clementine Hall o...