Gaza, gay rights, abuse and Trump: How will Pope Leo XIV confront global crisis?

The first-ever American-born pope inherits a world in crisis. In his first remarks as Pope Leo XIV, Chicago’s Robert Francis Prevost prayed for peace. He said it nine times during Thursday’s brief address. “Peace be with you. … This was the first greeting of the risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave His life for the flock of God,” he said in Italian, explaining his choice of words as he spoke to a crowd and the world from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. “I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are; and all the peoples, and all the earth: Peace be with you.

Leo XIV’s vision for the Catholic church is one of “peace and justice” and “building bridges” ready to receive, with open arms, “all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love.” A united church must seek “peace, charity, closeness, especially to those who are suffering,” he said.

His urgent message of peace confronts vast suffering and death from brutal wars, simmering tensions among nuclear powers, a long shadow of abuse within a church he now leads, and humanitarian outrage from his home country following three months of chaos under Donald Trump’s administration. (Read more)