Religion And Faith

Pope Leo XIV used his first audience with news outlets on Monday to appeal to journalists to help cool the heated language of today’s media landscape.

The comments once again echoed some of the themes highlighted by his predecessor, Pope Francis, as Leo backed a free press to enable informed decisions and renewed his calls for a more peaceful world.

The election of a new pope is always a time of excitement, anxiety, and anticipation. People ask a million questions. Is he conservative or liberal? Is he pro- or anti-migrants? What are his opinions on global warming? The Latin Mass? Capitalism? Gay marriage? Women’s ordination?

But the election of Chicago native Pope Leo XIV on Thursday raised a question that has never before been asked about a pope: Which baseball team does he support?

The Catholic Church announced that priests will be excommunicated if they follow a new Washington state law requiring clergy to report confessions about child abuse to law enforcement.

"Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession — or they will be excommunicated from the Church," the Archdiocese of Seattle said in a statement. "All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church."

"The Catholic Church agrees with the goal of protecting children...

The Catholic Church has issued a warning to its clergy in Washington state: Any priest who complies with a new law requiring the reporting of child abuse confessions to authorities will be excommunicated.

The new law, which will take effect on July 27, eliminates the long-standing confidentiality of the confessional, forcing Catholic leaders and lawmakers into a highly charged standoff over religious liberty and child protection.

The Catholic Church and federal government reacted vehemently to new legislation in Washington state that requires priests to report child abuse or neglect to law enforcement after learning about the crime through confessions. 

Gov. Mike Ferguson signed the controversial bill into law last week, making it mandatory for all clergy to report child abuse, without exemptions for information disclosed during confession. Confessions were previously considered privileged...

The ailing pope was short of breath, sitting beneath a cherished painting of Mary, Untier of Knots, as he worked through a last-ditch plan to disentangle the finances of one of the world’s most opaque bureaucracies.

The Catholic Church has a new pope.

American Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected the 267th pontiff. He has chosen the name Leo XIV, a senior cardinal deacon announced.

The 69-year-old Chicago native is the first American pope and is seen as a diplomat in the church...

White smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel Thursday afternoon after a short two-day deliberation, and onlookers watched while Robert Prevost, the first American pope in history, walked across the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in a white cassock.

More than 100 cardinals gathered to elect Pope Leo XIV as the new leader of the Catholic Church, ushering in a transformative era for the religious institution that will be distinct from its direction under Pope Francis.

They said it would never happen: an American pope, let alone an American pope while Donald Trump is president of the United States. But the Lord works in mysterious ways. On Thursday, Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago made history after his fellow cardinals elected him the 267th successor of Saint Peter.

Yet just as meaningful as his US background is the new pontiff’s choice of name: Leo XIV.

There is no more crushing burden in this life than to be elected as the Vicar of Christ. Yet Pope Leo XIV greeted the watching world with unfeigned joy, as if relishing the near-impossible mission of leading 1.4 billion Catholics and offering the rest of the world an example of Christian evangelism and sacrifice.