“Leo XIV: Portrait of the First American Pope,” written by Matthew Bunson, vice president and editorial director at EWTN News. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
EWTN officially launched the first authoritative biography of Pope Leo XIV, which is available for purchase now, during an event at the Vatican on May 22.
“Leo XIV: Portrait of the First American Pope,”written by Matthew Bunson, vice president and editorial director at EWTN News, tells the story of Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost, who was elected the new Holy Father on May 8.
Bunson, a Church expert and longtime Vatican journalist who has written over 50 books, said at the book launch at the Campo Santo Teutonico in Rome that Leo’s diverse experience as a pastor, prior general, missionary and bishop in Peru, and as a cardinal have given him a profound understanding of the global Church.
The route, known as “Paths of Pope Leo XIV,” highlights the places where the Holy Father — formerly known as Bishop Robert Prevost — exercised his fruitful pastoral ministry in the Andean nation.
The route covers four of the country’s regions: Lambayeque, Piura, La Libertad, and Callao, key locations in the ministry of the man who is now Pope Leo XIV, the first Peruvian citizen to become pope.
The Pope has offered to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks at the Vatican, the Italian prime minster, Giorgia Meloni, has said after speaking to the newly elected pontiff by phone.
“The prime minister thanked Pope Leo for his offer and for his serious commitment to peace,” Meloni’s office said.
In a statement, her office added Meloni had been asked to contact the Pope during a call with President Trump and European leaders on Monday, the same day Trump discussed peace plans with President Putin.
Giorgia Meloni was at St Peter’s Square on Sunday for the Pope’s inaugural mass
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Trump said on Monday “it would be great” for Russia and Ukraine to sit down for talks at the Vatican. The Pope said last week: “The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another.”
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia welcomed “the readiness and efforts of all parties who want to contribute to a speedy settlement”, but said no proposal had yet been received from the Vatican.
Pope Leo XIV holds his first Wednesday General Audience and reflects on Jesus’ parable of the sower, stressing that God “does not wait for us to become the best soil.”
By Kielce Gussie
In his first General Audience as Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV continued with Pope Francis’ Jubilee series on the theme of “Jesus Christ, Our Hope.”
The new Pope carried on with his predecessor’s reflection on the parables of Jesus, which Pope Leo said “help us to rediscover hope, because they show us how God acts in history.”
A unique parable
Pope Leo focused on the parable of the sower—“a rather unique parable, as it serves as a kind of introduction to all the others.” He pointed out how this story reveals how Jesus communicates, and it can give us guidance on how to proclaim the Gospel today.
While parables are taken from everyday life, their goal is to convey something more profound. They encourage us all to “raise questions within us; they invite us not to stop at appearances.”
Reflecting on the story, the Pope urged everyone to ask themselves two questions: Where am I in this story? What does this image say to my life?
A sower goes out to sow
In this parable of the sower, Pope Leo XIV explained that we can see God’s power and the impact it has on us.
“Every word of the Gospel is like a seed sown in the soil of our lives,” he shared, highlighting that the soil is not only our heart, “but also the world, the community, the Church.” There is no aspect of life that remains untouched by the Gospel.
Pope Leo greeting pilgrims in the popemobile during his first General Audience (@Vatican Media)
People from all walks of life and backgrounds came out to listen to Jesus tell this parable. This shows us that “Jesus’ word is for everyone, but it works in each person differently,” which Pope Leo explained helps us understand the parable better. Each of us can draw something from the parable no matter our situation in life.
Jesus is the Seed
In the story, where the seeds fall seems to be of little concern to the sower, which the Pope pointed out symbolizes how God loves each and every one of us. “We are used to calculating and planning things, but love doesn’t work that way,” he said.
Pope Leo emphasized that God “scatters the seed of His word on every kind of soil—meaning, in every one of our situations.” Whether we receive it with enthusiasm, superficiality, or fear, God trusts that at one point or another the seed will bear fruit.
God “does not wait for us to become the best soil.” Rather, He gives us His word over and over again, and His word is Jesus.
Van Gogh and his sunset
Closing his reflection, Pope Leo XIV pondered Vincent van Gogh’s painting, The Sower at Sunset.
“What strikes me,” he shared, “is that, behind the sower, van Gogh painted the grain already ripe.” The Pope called this an image of hope that somehow the seed has borne fruit.
In the center of the painting is the sun—not the sower, which reminds us that “God drives history, even if He sometimes seems distant or hidden.”
Remembering Pope Francis
Before praying the Our Father in Latin, Pope Leo XIV remembered his predecessor, Pope Francis, on the one month anniversary of his passing.
“And we cannot conclude our encounter without remembering with such gratitude our beloved Pope Francis, who exactly one month ago returned to the house of Our Father.”
Pope Leo XIV makes a surprise visit to the Dicastery for Bishops – where he had served as Prefect until he was elected Pope – and celebrates Mass in the Dicastery’s chapel.
By Vatican News
The Holy See Press Office announced that Pope Leo XIV made a surprise visit on Tuesday morning to the Dicastery for Bishops, where he had served as Prefect since his January 2023 appointment until his 8 May election as Pope.
During his visit, the statement noted, Pope Leo celebrated Mass in the Dicastery’s chapel.
The Holy Father arrived at the Dicastery’s offices in Piazza Pio XII around 10 a.m. in the dark minivan that has already been seen during his visits outside the Vatican.
Notably, it has been spotted during Pope Leo’s May 10 excursion south of Rome to pray at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano, and exactly one week ago, at the Augustinianum, where he celebrated Mass and had lunch with his Augustinian confreres.
Today, marked the Pope’s third surprise outing.
The Holy Father was greeted by applause; and a small crowd gathered in the Square, a few meter’s from the colonnade of St. Peter’s, were chanting “Viva il Papa!”
Others had waited along Via dei Corridori, parallel to Via della Conciliazione, behind the building, to see the Pope’s car emerge from the garage after about an hour and a half.
The Dicastery for Bishops is responsible for all matters pertaining to the establishment and provision of particular Churches and to the exercise of the episcopal office in the Latin Church, without prejudice to the competence of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
This afternoon, the Holy Father will travel to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to pray at St. Paul’s tomb.
On Wednesday morning, Pope Leo will hold his first General Audience with the faithful in the Vatican.
Vance’s motorcade was seen entering Vatican City just after 7:30 a.m. Vance, a Catholic convert, had led the U.S. delegation to the formal Mass opening the pontificate of the first American pope.
Pope Leo XIV is expected to move into the official papal residence, an apartment on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace, departing from the living arrangements used by Pope Francis for 12 years.
The papal apartment, which is a series of rooms wrapping around the Vatican’s Sixtus V Courtyard, was the traditional home of pontiffs for over a century before Pope Francis eschewed those living quarters for a suite in the Vatican’s guesthouse, the Casa Santa Marta.
Pope Francis explained his decision as “a need to live my life with others” in a 2013 interview. The late pope said the papal apartment is “old, tastefully decorated and large, but not luxurious.”
Francis’ choice of living space was commonly interpreted as a sign of his simplicity and rejection of papal pomp, though U.S. Jesuit Father James Martin said Leo’s expected move into the papal apartment was a prudent decision.
Martin called it understandable that Leo might move back into the Apostolic Palace, given the busy and crowded nature of the Vatican guesthouse compared with the privacy of the papal apartment.
“Leo’s move should not be taken as a sign either of a critique of Pope Francis (whom he has praised repeatedly and whose legacy he formally told the cardinals he wishes to continue) or as him not living ‘simply,’” the author wrote on X.
Pope Leo XIV addresses the Diplomatic Corps and encourages the ambassadors to pursue paths of peace with justice, truth and hope.
By Francesca Merlo
Pope Leo XIV addressed members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See on Friday morning, just one week after his election to the See of Peter.
Marking his first address to the diplomatic community, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to Ambassador George Poulides of Cyprus, the outgoing Dean of the Corps, praising his years of “energy, commitment and kindness,” as well as the esteem he earned from Pope Francis and previous Popes.
Turning then to the diplomatic representatives, the Pope reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to serve all humanity, describing the diplomatic community as a family “that shares the joys and sorrows of life” and is grounded in human and spiritual values. The Pope went on to note that in this family the Church does not seek priviliges but rather opportunities to build bridges, particularly through its distinctive form of diplomacy rooted in pastoral concern.
Pope Leo XIV has apparently made peace with Jannik Sinner.
The top-ranked tennis player visited the new pope on Wednesday, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner at the Italian Open, the Vatican said.
Leo, the first American pope, is an avid tennis player and fan and had said earlier this week that he would be up for a charity match when it was suggested by a journalist. But at the time, Leo joked “but we can’t invite Sinner,” an apparent reference to the English meaning of Sinner’s last name.
Sinner said it was “a good thing for us tennis players” that the new pope likes to play the sport.
The top-ranked player has a quarterfinal match on Thursday in his first tournament back after a three-month ban for doping that was judged to be an accidental contamination.
Sinner will next face either freshly crowned Madrid champion Casper Ruud or Jaume Munar. Sinner is attempting to become the first Italian man to win the Rome title since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
