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Pope Leo XIV: What we know already (and what we can expect)

Pope Leo XIV, with Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, walks out of the Vatican's Synod Hall on May 10, 2025. (Credit: Vatican Media.)

News Analysis

Pope Leo XIV: What we know already (and what we can expect)

There is little without precedent in the Catholic Church, but it is fair to say nothing exactly like the election of Pope Leo XIV has happened before and safe to say it took Church watchers quite by surprise.

May 11
Christopher R. Altieri

A man holds a Bible in prayer. (Credit: Pixabay.)

Sacred Scripture and good spiritual books can help struggling souls

May 11
Father Jeffrey F. Kirby

Pope Leo XIV prays before the icon of Mary of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, on May 10, 2025. (Credit: Vatican Media.)

Pope makes surprise outing to visit shrine dedicated to Saint Augustine

May 10
Elise Ann Allen

Pope Leo says he chose name due to revolution of artificial intelligence

May 10
Elise Ann Allen

Guess who’s coming to dinner? The future pope!

May 9
John L. Allen Jr.

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, appears on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican shortly after his election as pontiff, on May 8, 2025. (Credit: Domenico Stinellis/AP.)

Cardinal Gracias says Pope Leo XIV will ‘inspire and lead’

May 10
Nirmala Carvalho

American cardinals hail new pope as ‘citizen of the world’

May 10
Elise Ann Allen

Pope Leo says he chose name due to revolution of artificial intelligence

May 10
Elise Ann Allen

Guess who’s coming to dinner? The future pope!

May 9
John L. Allen Jr.

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, appears on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican shortly after his election as pontiff, on May 8, 2025. (Credit: Domenico Stinellis/AP.)

Cardinal Gracias says Pope Leo XIV will ‘inspire and lead’

May 10
Nirmala Carvalho

American cardinals hail new pope as ‘citizen of the world’

May 10
Elise Ann Allen

American cardinals hail new pope as ‘citizen of the world’

May 10
Elise Ann Allen

Guess who’s coming to dinner? The future pope!

May 9
John L. Allen Jr.

Serious questions of credibility surround coverup allegations against new pope

May 9
Elise Ann Allen

Pope Leo XIV notes even some baptized Christians ‘in state of practical atheism’

May 9
Crux Staff

Latest

A screen flags the news of new Pope Leo XIV during the second round match between Fabio Fognini of Italy and Jacob Fearnley at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome on May 8, 2025. (Credit: Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP.)

Pope Leo XIV is a tennis player. Tsitsipas would be happy to hit some balls with him

May 11
Andrew Dampf,
Associated Press

Chicago Sun Times newspaper headlines after Chicago native Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost becomes Pope Leo XIV, published on May 9, 2025. (Credit: Melina Walling/AP.)

‘DA POPE!’ Leo XIV’s Chicago roots unleash spate of holy humor

May 11
Matt Sedensky,
Associated Press

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV — confirmed the Marymount International School 9th graders, usually 14 or 15 years old, in a Mass on May 11, 2024. (Credit: Marymount International School via AP.)

As cardinal, Pope Leo XIV balanced the sacramental with the personal while confirming teenagers

May 11
Colleen Barry,
Associated Press

A St. Rita High School student prays in the school chapel where the new Pope Leo XIV, Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost, was a substitute teacher. Picture taken May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (Credit: Paul Beaty/AP.)

Catholic Chicagoans celebrate as native son Pope Leo XIV becomes first American pope

May 10
Christine Fernando,
Melina Walling, Associated Press

John Prevost, brother of newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in New Lennox, Ill. (Credit: Obed Lamy/AP.)

The pope is on the line: Journalist is there for pontiff’s call to his brother in Chicago

May 10
Obed Lamy,
Associated Press

A general view of St. Thomas of Villanova Church on the Villanova campus in Villanova, Pennsylvania, on May 8, 2025. (Credit: Matt Slocum/AP.)

From Villanova to the Vatican: Alma mater is floored it taught the 1st US pope

May 10
Tassanee Vejpongsa,
Jonathan Mattise, Associated Press

Pope Leo XIV, the Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo, Bishop Robert Prevost, preaches during a Corpus Christi Mass in a stadium in Chiclayo, Peru, on June 19, 2019. (Credit: Julio Reano/AP.)

Amazon Catholics hope the new pope will protect the rain forest

May 10
Mauricio Savarese,
Steven Grattan, Associated Press

Jari Honora, family historian for the Historic New Orleans Collection, shows the genealogy material of the grandparents of Pope Leo XIV in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 9, 2025. (Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP.)

Pope Leo XIV’s Creole heritage highlights complex history of racism and the church in America

May 10
Jack Brook,
Deepa Bharath, Associated Press

Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan — and the organization is embracing the occasion

May 10
Associated Press

Church in Africa welcomes Pope Leo XIV

May 9
Ngala Killian Chimtom

Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru celebrates former bishop Prevost’s election as Pope Leo XIV

May 9
Eduardo Campos Lima

Habemus papam: American Cardinal Robert Prevost elected Pope Leo XIV

May 8
Elise Ann Allen and John Allen

Global

Amazon Catholics hope the new pope will protect the rain forest

May 10
Mauricio Savarese,
Steven Grattan, Associated Press

Pope Leo XIV’s Creole heritage highlights complex history of racism and the church in America

May 10
Jack Brook,
Deepa Bharath, Associated Press

Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan — and the organization is embracing the occasion

May 10
Associated Press

Church in Africa welcomes Pope Leo XIV

May 9
Ngala Killian Chimtom

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Pope Leo XIV prays before the icon of Mary of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, on May 10, 2025. (Credit: Vatican Media.)

Pope makes surprise outing to visit shrine dedicated to Saint Augustine

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Pope Leo says he chose name due to revolution of artificial intelligence

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American cardinals hail new pope as ‘citizen of the world’

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In the photo released by the Diocese of Chulucanas, Bishop Robert Prevost, third from right, poses with members of the clergy in Chulucanas, Peru, on Aug. 12, 2024. (Credit: Diocese of Chulucanas via AP.)

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Parishioners attend Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in the Queens borough of New York on Sunday, May 8, 2022. According to a report released Thursday, April 13, 2023, by the Pew Research Center, Catholics remain the largest religious group among Latinos in the United States, but the number of Latinos who identify as religiously unaffiliated continues to grow. (Credit: Brittainy Newman/AP.)

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